Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

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

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $59.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,652,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,606,450. The firm has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.94 and its 200-day moving average is $62.73. Centene has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Centene by 1,788.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,582 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Centene by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.