Truist Financial Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.53% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CNC. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Barclays set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Centene from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Centene from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.56.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $44.97 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Centene has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $66.81. The firm has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. The business had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.50 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,396,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,169,768,000 after purchasing an additional 869,706 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth $1,435,997,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Centene by 2.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,186,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,586,000 after purchasing an additional 514,600 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centene by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,885,000 after buying an additional 6,356,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,208,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,547,000 after acquiring an additional 279,637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.