Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Short Interest Update

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,910,000 shares, an increase of 63.8% from the February 28th total of 6,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,970,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. 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 period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,652,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,606,450. 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. The firm has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.73.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.