Centene (NYSE:CNC) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $71.71 and last traded at $70.1980, with a volume of 167,186 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Centene from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.05.

Centene Stock Down 1.0%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.38. The company has a market capitalization of $34.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.71, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth about $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Centene by 423.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757,914 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Centene by 12.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,517,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,173,000 after purchasing an additional 608,249 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Centene by 21.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,518,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,818,000 after purchasing an additional 802,756 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Centene in the second quarter valued at about $285,713,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.