Short Interest in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Drops By 28.0%

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,140,000 shares, a decrease of 28.0% from the March 15th total of 9,910,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Guggenheim began coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.69.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock traded up $1.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,553,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,694,114. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.13. Centene has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $30.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake 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 last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.