Centene Corp. (CNC) stock price, quote and key numbers
Updated 28 September 2026, 09:52 ET
Centene Corp. (CNC) closed at $61.82 on 25 September 2026, down 0.2%. That leaves it down 5.1% over a week, down 5.6% over a month and up 78.4% over a year. That is 79% of the way up its 52 week range of $31.63 to $69.63. The median analyst price target of $69 sits 11.6% above the close.
The price
Changes compare dividend and split adjusted closes over trading sessions, so the one year figure is the last close against the close 252 sessions earlier. The 52 week range uses the daily highs and lows of the same window. Read the guide: How to read a stock quote.
The live price, the day's chart and the pre market and after hours prints are in the app: open CNC in Just Stock Quotes.
Trend and range
CNC trades below its 50 day average of $65.08 but above its 200 day average of $52.23: the long trend is up, the recent one is not. The 50 day average sits above the 200 day average. Its beta against the S&P 500 over the last year is 0.37, a stock that barely follows the market. It is 11.2% below its 52 week high and 95.4% above its 52 week low.
Moving averages smooth the closes of the last 50 and 200 sessions; being above or below them describes the trend, it does not predict it. Beta is how much the stock moved for each move in the S&P 500 over the year. Read the guide: Moving averages, the 52 week range and beta.
What analysts say
In the last 90 days 10 firms recorded 10 actions on CNC: 9 kept a view and 1 upgrade. Price targets: 9 raised. The most recent targets from 17 firms run from $39 to $80, with a median of $69, 11.6% above the last close.
| Date | Firm | Action | Price target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug 2026 | Argus Research | Upgrades to Buy from Hold | $80.00 |
| 4 Aug 2026 | JP Morgan | Maintains Neutral | $60.00 to $67.00 |
| 3 Aug 2026 | Bernstein | Maintains Outperform | $68.00 to $79.00 |
| 29 Jul 2026 | Barclays | Maintains Overweight | $75.00 to $80.00 |
| 29 Jul 2026 | Baird | Maintains Neutral | $46.00 to $66.00 |
| 14 Jul 2026 | TD Cowen | Maintains Hold | $47.00 to $65.00 |
A target is one firm's guess at the price a year out, and the average runs optimistic. The useful reading is the mood: high targets and a wall of buys mean high expectations. Read the guide: What analyst ratings and price targets tell you.
Earnings
The next report is on the calendar for 27 October 2026 for Q3 2026, with earnings per share expected at $0.09. The last report, on 28 July 2026 for Q2 2026, showed EPS of $2.51 against $1.02 expected, a beat of 146.1%, on revenue of $53.6 billion. Centene Corp. beat the EPS estimate in 7 of its last 8 reported quarters.
Set a percent move alert before the report and the app pings you when the stock reacts, even after hours: open CNC in Just Stock Quotes.
The numbers
Over the trailing twelve months Centene Corp. shows revenue growth of 13.89%, a gross margin of 98.64%, an operating margin of -2.78% and a return on equity of -20.41%.
| Measure | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth, TTM | 13.9% | 69th |
| Gross margin | 98.6% | 99th |
| Operating margin | -2.8% | 36th |
| Free cash flow margin | 4.4% | 52nd |
| Return on equity | -20.4% | 30th |
| Return on assets | -6.0% | 37th |
| Debt to equity | 0.71 | 69th |
| Current ratio | 1.15 | 49th |
| Effective tax rate | -10.2% | 9th |
The percentile ranks the company against every US company the data covers; a high percentile means most companies score lower.
Margins say how much of each dollar of sales becomes profit, returns say how hard the balance sheet works, and debt to equity says how much of it is borrowed. The valuation ratios, price to earnings and the rest, are in the app on the stock page. Read the guide: The valuation ratios on a stock page.
About Centene Corp.
- Exchange
- NYSE
- Sector
- Health Care
- Industry
- Insurance
- Headquarters
- Wilmington, Missouri
- Chief executive
- Sarah M. London
- Employees
- 74,300
- Website
- centene.com
Centene Corporation 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. This segment also offers various individual, small group, and large group commercial healthcare products to employers and directly to members.
In the same sector
Other Health Care names in the S&P 500, by market cap:
LLY Eli Lilly & Co.JNJ Johnson & JohnsonABBV AbbVie Inc.MRK Merck & Co. Inc.UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc.TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.AMGN Amgen Inc.GILD Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Learn
- How to read a stock quote
- Reading a price chart from one day to one year
- Moving averages, the 52 week range and beta
- What analyst ratings and price targets tell you
- The valuation ratios on a stock page
- Price alerts, targets and percent moves
Add CNC to your watchlist, set a price alert, watch the live chart and ask FundSpec AI about it. No account, no subscription. The same screen is in the iPhone, iPad and Android apps.
Open CNC in Just Stock Quotes