Guggenheim Initiates Coverage on Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Research analysts at Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens reduced their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.85.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $62.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.80. The stock has a market cap of $30.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in Centene by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd grew its holdings in Centene by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Centene by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 5,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

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.