In the latest trading session, Centene (CNC) closed at $42.73, marking a -0.05% move from the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.79%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.86%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.56%.
Heading into today, shares of the healthcare company had lost 7.35% over the past month, lagging the Medical sector’s loss of 2.45% and the S&P 500’s gain of 0.72% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from CNC as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 22, 2019. On that day, CNC is projected to report earnings of $0.96 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.67%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $18.36 billion, up 13.45% 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 $73.68 billion. These totals would mark changes of +24.86% and +22.56%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for CNC. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% higher. CNC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Investors should also note CNC’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.68. This represents a discount compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 14.53.
Also, we should mention that CNC has a PEG ratio of 0.68. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. Medical – HMOs stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.99 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Medical – HMOs industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 104, which puts it in the top 41% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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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