Centene’s (CNC) Buy Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Centene (NYSE:CNC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Truist Financial in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $82.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $80.00. Truist Financial‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.18% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CNC. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Centene from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.80.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $3.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $64.99. 658,012 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,600,771. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $66.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.26. The stock has a market cap of $32.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.07. Centene has a one year low of $31.63 and a one year high of $72.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.48. Centene had a net margin of 0.72% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $50.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth $25,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.