How to Buy Centene Stock
Centene Corp
Centene is a healthcare plan company located in Missouri, United States, which is part of the Healthcare sector, and is traded under the ticker CNC on the NYSE exchange.
Centene stock last closed at $60.70, down 2.07% from the previous day, and has decreased 15.69% in one year. It has underperformed other stocks in the Healthcare Plans industry by 0.06 percentage points. Centene stock is currently +10.3% from its 52-week low of $55.03, and -24.68% from its 52-week high of $80.59.
At the moment, there are 496.04M CNC shares outstanding. The market value of CNC is $30.11B. In the last 24 hours, 5.76M CNC shares were traded.
How to Buy Centene Stock
Wondering how to invest in Centene stock? Here's how.
- Figure out where to buy Centene stock: You need to pick an online brokerage, but don't worry - we've researched dozens of online brokerages and apps to help you figure out where to buy Centene stock.
- Create a brokerage account: Sign up for 0% fee trading with the highest-rated brokerage we've found.
- Fund your brokerage account: Pick your method of payment and add your info.
- Evaluate Centene stock: The Centene ticker symbol is CNC. Is Centene stock a good investment? Should you buy shares of CNC? How do CNC's underlying business fundamentals look? Do top analysts think Centene is a good buy? Why has CNC's stock price moved recently? (Hint: Our stock research website can help you evaluate if CNC is a good stock to buy).
- Place your CNC purchase: Decide if you will purchase CNC shares at the current market price or use a limit order to buy CNC shares at a specific price.
- Monitor your CNC investment: Create a watchlist to get the latest news on your new investment in Centene shares.
Step 1: Figure out where to buy Centene stock
You will need a brokerage account to access the NYSE market and buy CNC shares.
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Open eToro AccountStep 2: Create a brokerage account
Now that you've selected the best brokerage, it's time to fill out some personal details so you can invest in CNC stock today.
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- Click here to get started.eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
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Step 3: Fund your brokerage account
Now that you've opened your account on the best investment app, you can securely and quickly fund your account:
Check out the walkthrough below if you need help transferring money into your investment account.
Step 4: Evaluate Centene stock
After you have figured out the best place to buy Centene stock, it's absolutely critical to research their stock before you buy, so you can wrap your head around the risk as well as the upside.
Centene quick stats
Centene Fundamentals
WallStreetZen was created to help part-time investors perform more accurate fundamental analysis.
You can view all of the due diligence checks on CNC's stock page.
Is CNC stock properly valued?
Analysts use a variety of different financial metrics, analyses, models, and charts to gauge CNC's fair value.
Using relative valuations ratios:
- CNC could be undervalued based on its P/E ratio of 9.59x, relative to Healthcare Plans industry P/E ratio of 24.78x
- CNC may be undervalued based on its P/B ratio of 1.14x, relative to Healthcare Plans industry P/B ratio of 2.6x
- CNC may be overvalued based on its PEG ratio of 1.09x
You can access more valuation research on CNC's stock here.
A look at CNC Cashflows and Balance Sheet
Passed Health Checks:
- CNC profit margin has gone up from 1.8% to 2% in the past year.
- CNC has cash burn of 490000000. It has enough cash and short-term investments to cover this for at least one year.
- CNC has $16.69B in cash and short term investments. This is enough to cover its annual cash burn of $490.00M.
- Total CNC debt is lower than 5 years ago, relative to shareholder equity.
- There are more short-term assets than short-term liabilities on the CNC balance sheet.
- There are more short-term assets than long-term liabilities on the CNC balance sheet.
Failed Health Checks:
- CNC has a relatively high debt to equity ratio of 2.12.
Is CNC stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell, according to analysts?
Out of 11 Wall Street analysts who monitor CNC, the consensus analyst rating on Centene is a Strong Buy
Please keep in mind that analyst ratings are not recommendations, nor are they financial advice.
Most Recent CNC Analyst Recommendations
Ryan MacDonald, a bottom 3% analyst from Truist Securities maintains CNC with a strong buy rating and lowers their CNC price target from $89.00 to $84.00, on Dec 13, 2024.
Andrew Mok, a bottom 5% analyst from Barclays maintains CNC with a strong buy rating and raises their CNC price target from $91.00 to $93.00, on Dec 13, 2024.
Michael Wiederhorn, a bottom 11% analyst from Oppenheimer maintains CNC with a buy rating and lowers their CNC price target from $95.00 to $85.00, on Dec 13, 2024.
A.J. Rice, a top 10% analyst from UBS upgrades CNC to a strong buy rating and raises their CNC price target from $79.00 to $80.00, on Dec 13, 2024.
Sarah James, a bottom 4% analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald reiterates CNC with a strong buy rating and maintains their CNC price target from $90.00 to $90.00, on Dec 11, 2024.
You can dig deeper into what analysts are projecting on the Centene stock forecast page.
Metrics for Advanced CNC Traders
CNC Earnings
Last year, CNC earnings were $3.31B. In the past five year, CNC's earnings have increased by 14.69% per year. This was faster than the Healthcare Plans industry average of 0.96%.
Last year, CNC revenue was $163.07B. In the last five year, CNC's revenue has gone up by 16.92% per year. This was faster than the Healthcare Plans industry average of 11.19%.
You can research CNC's earnings and revenue performance here.
Latest Insiders Trades at CNC
In the past 12 months, insiders at CNC have sold more shares than they have bought.
Tanya M. McNally, Chief People Officer of CNC, was the latest CNC insider to sell. They sold $60,741.64 worth of CNC shares on Apr 15, 2025.
Get more info about who owns CNC stock here.
Can I get consistent income from CNC stock?
No, Centene doesn't provide an income stream by paying out dividends.
What do other investors have to say about CNC?
One of the biggest reasons eToro is our top-rated brokerage is because of its social trading community.
Click below to find out what other traders have to say.
Step 5: Place your CNC purchase
There are two primary options:
- Market order: A market order is an order to buy or sell a security at the best possible price.
Market orders are mostly fine for most investors. - Limit order: A limit order lets you buy or sell a security at a specific price (or better).
If you want to ensure you're buying or selling at a given dollar amount limit, use a limit order.
Hit the Open button and your broker will execute the order.
If you want additional assistance investing in stocks on eToro, click the helpful video below:
Step 6: Monitor your CNC investment
Now that you own some CNC shares, you'll want to keep up with your stock purchase.
Start a watchlist to see the latest developments about your CNC stock.
CNC Feed
How to Buy Stock in Centene
To reiterate, here are the 6 steps you need to take to buy Centene stock right now:
- Figure out where to buy Centene stock
- Create a brokerage account
- Fund your brokerage account
- Evaluate Centene stock
- Place your CNC purchase
- Monitor your CNC investment
If you are looking for a brokerage, eToro is our favorite option.
Get Started with eToro TodayIf you would like to get the latest news on your new investment in Centene, get started below.
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