Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $61.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CNC. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.77.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $59.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.15 and a 200 day moving average of $60.71. The company has a market cap 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at $844,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at $211,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 21.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 7,549 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 621,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,799,000 after purchasing an additional 22,233 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.