Centene (NYSE:CNC) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Centene (NYSE:CNC) issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.11 earnings per share.

Centene Stock Down 2.2 %

Centene stock opened at $74.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.77. Centene has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.