Centene (NYSE:CNC) Hits New 1-Year Low at $64.66

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $64.66 and last traded at $65.24, with a volume of 211006 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Centene from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Bank of America cut Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $100.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. Argus raised their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $99.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Centene from $103.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong 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 price target of $96.94.

Centene Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $72.89 and its 200 day moving average is $79.26. The firm has a market cap of $34.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.01). Centene had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 0.83%. The business had revenue of $35.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.34 EPS for the current year.

Centene declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.89 per share, for a total transaction of $215,670.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 310,955 shares in the company, valued at $22,354,554.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $71.89 per share, for a total transaction of $215,670.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 310,955 shares in the company, valued at $22,354,554.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.88 per share, with a total value of $503,160.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 11,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $856,234.56. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 16,750 shares of company stock worth $1,213,605 in the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its stake in shares of Centene by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 27,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,220,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 22,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Centene by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.28% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

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Centene Corp. operates as a healthcare enterprise, which engages in the provision of programs and services to government sponsored healthcare programs. It operates through the following segments: Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Medicaid Managed Care segment provides health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs through Medicaid.