Bank of Nova Scotia Has $13.56 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 208.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,902 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 151,318 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Centene were worth $13,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Down 1.4 %

CNC traded down $0.92 on Monday, reaching $62.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,113,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,224. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $31.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.65.

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Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.85.

About Centene

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.