In a report released today, Michael Wiederhorn from Oppenheimer maintained a Buy rating on Centene Corp (CNC), with a price target of $165. The company’s shares opened today at $119.20.
Wiederhorn noted:
“CNC issued solid ’19 EPS guidance of $8.15-$8.55 (OPCO/Street: $8.35/$8.36E), which are expected to be more front-end loaded than we anticipated, with 64% of earnings in 1H:19 and Q1 ahead of Q2. In addition, Centene reaffirmed its FY2018 adj-EPS guidance of $6.90-$7.10. Following the guidance, we are updating our model’s quarterly estimates, but keeping our FY2018/2019 EPS estimates unchanged. Centene is targeting $500M of cost savings through a variety of buckets, roughly one-quarter of which has already been firmly identified. Clearly CNC has been weak on concerns around the outlook for the ACA, but since we believe the law is here to stay, and the company is continuing to perform well operationally, we would use the weakness as a buying opportunity.”
According to TipRanks.com, Wiederhorn is a top 25 analyst with an average return of 15.2% and a 69.8% success rate. Wiederhorn covers the Services sector, focusing on stocks such as Cross Country Healthcare, Addus Homecare Corp, and Community Health.
Currently, the analyst consensus on Centene Corp is a Strong Buy with an average price target of $162.88, a 36.6% upside from current levels. In a report issued on December 13, Cantor Fitzgerald also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $145 price target.
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Centene Corp’s market cap is currently $26.19B and has a P/E ratio of 26.57. The company has a Price to Book ratio of 2.46.
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Centene Corp. engages in the provision of programs and services to government sponsored healthcare programs. It operates through the Managed Care and Specialty Services segments. The Medicaid Managed Care segment provides health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs through Medicaid.
