How to buy Centene Corporation stock | 65.73

Centene Corporation is a healthcare plans business based in the US. Centene Corporation shares (CNC) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Centene Corporation employs 56,600 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$86.5 billion.

How to buy shares in Centene Corporation

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Centene Corporation. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: CNC. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Centene Corporation reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$65.73, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Centene Corporation, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Centene Corporation. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Centene Corporation's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Centene Corporation's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was USD$65.73, which is 0.37% up on its pre-crash value of USD$65.49 and 49.52% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$43.96.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Centene Corporation shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$724.25 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$1,045.11.

Centene Corporation share price

Use our graph to track the performance of CNC stocks over time.

Centene Corporation shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-20.

Latest market close	USD$65.73
52-week range	USD$43.96 - USD$74.7
50-day moving average	USD$60.1609
200-day moving average	USD$63.7349
Wall St. target price	USD$83.24
PE ratio	22.5548
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$3.144

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Is it a good time to buy Centene Corporation stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Centene Corporation by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Centene Corporation price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $65.73 from 2020-10-19

1 week (2020-10-23)	-2.51%
1 month (2020-10-01)	11.75%
3 months (2020-07-31)	0.74%
6 months (2020-05-01)	1.17%

1 year (2019-10-30)	21.63%
2 years (2018-10-30)	-48.71%
3 years (2017-10-30)	-29.93%
5 years (2015-10-30)	10.51%

Is Centene Corporation under- or over-valued?

Valuing Centene Corporation stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Centene Corporation's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Centene Corporation's P/E ratio

Centene Corporation's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 23x. In other words, Centene Corporation shares trade at around 23x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Centene Corporation's PEG ratio

Centene Corporation's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.888. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Centene Corporation's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Centene Corporation's EBITDA

Centene Corporation's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$4.8 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Centene Corporation's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Centene Corporation financials

Revenue TTM	USD$86.5 billion
Operating margin TTM	4.41%
Gross profit TTM	USD$11.9 billion
Return on assets TTM	4.64%
Return on equity TTM	8.25%
Profit margin	1.8%
Book value	$43.249
Market capitalisation	USD$38 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Centene Corporation shares

There are currently 9.3 million Centene Corporation shares held short by investors – that's known as Centene Corporation's "short interest". This figure is 8.3% up from 8.6 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Centene Corporation shares can be evaluated.

Centene Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Centene Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Centene Corporation shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Centene Corporation shares traded daily (recently around 3.8 million). Centene Corporation's SIR currently stands at 2.43. In other words for every 100,000 Centene Corporation shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2430 shares are currently held short.

However Centene Corporation's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Centene Corporation shares, or, against the total number of tradable Centene Corporation shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Centene Corporation's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Centene Corporation shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0182% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Centene Corporation shares, roughly 18 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Centene Corporation.

Find out more about how you can short Centene Corporation stock.

Centene Corporation's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Centene Corporation.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Centene Corporation's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 28.72

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Centene Corporation's overall score of 28.72 (as at 10/01/2020) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 36th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Centene Corporation is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Centene Corporation's environmental score

Environmental score: 5.14/100

Centene Corporation's environmental score of 5.14 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Centene Corporation is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Centene Corporation's social score

Social score: 21.92/100

Centene Corporation's social score of 21.92 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Centene Corporation is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Centene Corporation's governance score

Governance score: 10.66/100

Centene Corporation's governance score puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Centene Corporation is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Centene Corporation's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Centene Corporation scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Centene Corporation has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Centene Corporation was last rated for ESG on: 2020-10-01.

Total ESG score	28.72
Total ESG percentile	36.42
Environmental score	5.14
Environmental score percentile	7
Social score	21.92
Social score percentile	7
Governance score	10.66
Governance score percentile	7
Level of controversy	2

Centene Corporation share dividends

We're not expecting Centene Corporation to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Have Centene Corporation's shares ever split?

Centene Corporation's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 7 February 2019. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Centene Corporation shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Centene Corporation shares which in turn could have impacted Centene Corporation's share price.

Centene Corporation share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Centene Corporation's shares have ranged in value from as little as $43.96 up to $74.7. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Centene Corporation's is 0.5863. This would suggest that Centene Corporation's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Centene Corporation overview

Centene Corporation operates as a multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured individuals in the United States. Its Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children's health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which cover dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs. Its health plans include primary and specialty physician care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, emergency and urgent care, prenatal care, laboratory and X-ray, home-based primary care, transportation assistance, vision care, dental care, telehealth, immunization, specialty pharmacy, therapy, social work, nurse advisory, and care coordination services, as well as prescriptions and limited over-the-counter drugs, medical equipment, and behavioral health and abuse services. This segment also offers various individual, small group, and large group commercial healthcare products to employers and directly to members in the Managed Care segment. The company's Specialty Services segment provides pharmacy benefits management services; health, triage, wellness, and disease management services; and vision and dental, and management services, as well as care management software that automate the clinical, administrative, and technical components of care management programs; staffing services; and services to Military Health System eligible beneficiaries. This segment offers its services and products to state programs, correctional facilities, healthcare organizations, employer groups, and other commercial organizations. Centene Corporation has a collaboration with AT&T. The company provides its services through primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, and ancillary providers. Centene Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Centene Corporation is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 1.899% of Centene Corporation shares are held by insiders and 81.163% by institutions.

• How many people work for Centene Corporation?

  Latest data suggests 56,600 work at Centene Corporation.

• When does the fiscal year end for Centene Corporation?

  Centene Corporation's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Centene Corporation based?

  Centene Corporation's address is: Centene Plaza, St. Louis, MO, United States, 63105

• What is Centene Corporation's ISIN number?

  Centene Corporation's international securities identification number is: US15135B1017

• What is Centene Corporation's CUSIP number?

  Centene Corporation's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 15135B101