Centene’s (CNC) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $90.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.58.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $73.94 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene has a 52 week low of $63.45 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $39.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 148,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,009,000 after acquiring an additional 35,352 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Centene by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 7,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Centene by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 530,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,404,000 after acquiring an additional 131,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.