Centene (NYSE:CNC) Issues Earnings Results

Centene (NYSE:CNC) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31, RTT News reports. Centene had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 1.90%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene updated its FY 2025 guidance to 7.250- EPS.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $60.82 on Thursday. Centene has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CNC shares. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

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.