Mondrian Investment Partners LTD Boosts Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,595,571 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 130,954 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings in Centene were worth $105,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Riverview Trust Co grew its position in shares of Centene by 154.6% in the second quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.58.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $75.39 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $63.45 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene 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.