Brokerages Set Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Target Price at $41.50

Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.8125.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Centene by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 4,315 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Centene by 198.6% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 44.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 63,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,457,000 after purchasing an additional 19,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 9.7% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 14,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $40.53 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.13 and a 200-day moving average of $36.37. Centene has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.03. The company has a market capitalization of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.