Centene (NYSE:CNC) Raised to "Hold" at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $64.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $53.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CNC. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.85.

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Centene Stock Up 2.3 %

Centene stock traded up $1.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.82. The stock had a trading volume of 3,887,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,694,413. The stock has a market cap of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.73. Centene has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. 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 (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Centene by 1,788.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,033,000 after buying an additional 2,126,582 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Centene by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock worth $228,414,000 after buying an additional 1,802,265 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

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.