Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price upped by analysts at Barclays from $63.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.49% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.65.

Centene Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE CNC opened at $58.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Centene has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $60.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Centene will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after buying an additional 17,143,904 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares in the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $186,662,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,171,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.