Zacks Research Has Negative Forecast for Centene Q1 Earnings

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Centene in a report issued on Thursday, November 14th. Zacks Research analyst K. Dey now expects that the company will earn $2.62 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.69. The consensus estimate for Centene’s current full-year earnings is $6.83 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Centene’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.82 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.96 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.24 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.91 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $2.04 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on CNC. 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.92.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $57.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.76. Centene has a 1-year low of $57.20 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.49.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harris Associates L P increased its position in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after buying an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at about $914,080,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 0.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Centene by 3.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,255,000 after acquiring an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.