Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Centene (NYSE:CNC) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.81.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $40.53 on Friday. Centene has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $66.03. The company has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.98, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average is $36.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter worth $1,435,997,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 76.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,356,152 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. grew its holdings in Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $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 in the 3rd quarter valued at about $186,662,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 535.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,750,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317,618 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.