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

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing 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 owned about 0.30% of Centene worth $105,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,298,000 after acquiring an additional 112,605 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,046,000 after purchasing an additional 98,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 435.0% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,304 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 35.8% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after buying an additional 7,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Centene by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,320,000 after buying an additional 51,878 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $75.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $40.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.50. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.