Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Centene (NYSE:CNC) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens dropped their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.85.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $63.82 on Friday. Centene has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 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.