Centene (CNC) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Centene (CNC) closed at $45.54, marking a +0.73% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.08%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.3%.
Coming into today, shares of the healthcare company had lost 0.75% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 1.6%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.25%.
CNC will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 22, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.95, up 5.56% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $18.37 billion, up 13.54% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.42 per share and revenue of $73.69 billion. These totals would mark changes of +24.86% and +22.59%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for CNC. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.13% lower. CNC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that CNC has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.24 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.46, which means CNC is trading at a discount to the group.
Investors should also note that CNC has a PEG ratio of 0.72 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CNC's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.06 as of yesterday's close.
The Medical - HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 67, which puts it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Centene Corporation (CNC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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