Centene (CNC) Competitors

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) and Centene (NYSE:CNC) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation, profitability, community ranking, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor ELV or CNC?

Centene received 180 more outperform votes than Elevance Health when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 73.36% of users gave Centene an outperform vote while only 67.18% of users gave Elevance Health an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Elevance Health	Outperform Votes 872 67.18%	Underperform Votes 426 32.82%
Centene	Outperform Votes 1052 73.36%	Underperform Votes 382 26.64%

Does the media favor ELV or CNC?

In the previous week, Elevance Health had 16 more articles in the media than Centene. MarketBeat recorded 47 mentions for Elevance Health and 31 mentions for Centene. Elevance Health's average media sentiment score of 1.63 beat Centene's score of 1.16 indicating that Elevance Health is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Elevance Health	43 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Centene	25 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, ELV or CNC?

Elevance Health has higher revenue and earnings than Centene. Centene is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Elevance Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Elevance Health	$176.81B	0.55	$5.98B	$25.61	16.80
Centene	$163.07B	0.18	$3.31B	$6.24	9.71

Do analysts recommend ELV or CNC?

Elevance Health currently has a consensus target price of $519.81, indicating a potential upside of 20.80%. Centene has a consensus target price of $79.92, indicating a potential upside of 31.93%. Given Centene's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Centene is more favorable than Elevance Health.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elevance Health	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.94
Centene	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ELV or CNC?

89.2% of Elevance Health shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Centene shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Elevance Health shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Centene shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is ELV or CNC more profitable?

Elevance Health has a net margin of 3.38% compared to Centene's net margin of 2.03%. Elevance Health's return on equity of 18.28% beat Centene's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elevance Health	3.38%	18.28%	6.72%
Centene	2.03%	13.85%	4.54%

Which has more volatility & risk, ELV or CNC?

Elevance Health has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Centene has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Elevance Health beats Centene on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.