Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price decreased by Barclays from $93.00 to $84.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 41.65% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.77.

Centene Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $59.30 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.71. Centene has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Norges Bank bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Centene by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,760,000 after acquiring an additional 443,121 shares during the period. 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.