FY2026 EPS Estimates for Centene Co. Increased by Zacks Research (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) – Analysts at Zacks Research increased their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Centene in a research note issued on Wednesday, June 26th. Zacks Research analyst K. Dey now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $8.49 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.47. The consensus estimate for Centene’s current full-year earnings is $6.82 per share.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.93.

Centene Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $66.30 on Friday. Centene has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $35.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.1% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 134,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,242,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Centene by 8.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 113,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,784,000 after acquiring an additional 8,853 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 36,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 10,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.