Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $61.62, but opened at $70.00. Centene shares last traded at $68.31, with a volume of 3,192,073 shares traded.

The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $42.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.91 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in Centene by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 9,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 6.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 152.0% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 7,049 shares during the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP grew its position in Centene by 119.6% in the third quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 7,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 4,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Centene by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 108,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,147,000 after buying an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.31. The company has a market capitalization of $34.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48.

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.