Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Argus

Centene (NYSE:CNC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $80.00 price target on the stock. Argus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.28% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CNC. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price objective on Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Centene from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.15.

Centene Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:CNC opened at $66.51 on Tuesday. Centene has a 12 month low of $25.23 and a 12 month high of $69.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.37, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.800- EPS. Analysts expect that Centene will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,660,422,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after buying an additional 17,143,904 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its stake in Centene by 184.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at about $257,279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

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.