Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target Lowered to $66.00 at Robert W. Baird

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $83.00 to $66.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.14% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.17.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $61.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene has a 12 month low of $59.77 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in Centene by 41.4% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 10.0% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.