Prana Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $59.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $29.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Argus lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.77.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.