Zacks Research Issues Negative Estimate for Centene Earnings

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) – Zacks Research cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Centene in a report issued on Monday, February 24th. Zacks Research analyst K. Dey now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.22 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.37. The consensus estimate for Centene’s current full-year earnings is $6.86 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Centene’s Q2 2025 earnings at $2.23 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.04 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.96 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $7.29 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $8.13 EPS.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $56.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.43. Centene has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is 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.