Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 40.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,907 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,769 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its position in shares of Centene by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $59.96 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

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.