Yahoo Finance Centene (CNC) Invests Nearly $8M to Build Texas Community Center
Centene Corporation CNC, along with its Texas subsidiary, Superior HealthPlan, recently announced an investment of $7.9 million to construct an innovative multipurpose community center in the Uvalde city of the state. CNC has joined forces with the city’s federally qualified health center, Community Health Development (CHDI), to gain an in-depth understanding of the diversified needs of the entire Uvalde community.
Shares of Centene lost 0.5% on Dec 6, replicating declines in broader markets.
While a groundbreaking ceremony was already held on December 2 at the center plot, the Uvalde Community Center is expected to be inaugurated in late 2024.
On being operational, the community center will provide primary medical care and behavioral health services in a bid to address the health needs of the Uvalde community and neighboring areas. Additionally, the center will act as a means of availing youth development resources as well as imparting college and job preparation training to students. It will also assume the role of retail space for local businesses.
The latest move can be termed a growth-related investment on the part of Centene. Through its Texas subsidiary, CNC has been successful in occupying a significant share of the managed care market of the state and the recent investment might further bolster its footprint. Such partnerships with healthcare providers of a particular region enable Centene to deliver effective healthcare services and better serve the local community.
The establishment of a multipurpose community center might lure more people in Texas to enroll in a Superior healthcare plan to avail the credible healthcare services of Uvalde’s center. This, in turn, will result in growing membership for Centene which will contribute to its premiums. Rising premiums sound well for health insurers since premiums usually contribute a chunk to the top line. As of Sep 30, 2022, CNC’s managed care membership grew 5% year over year.
Centene makes steadfast efforts to bolster its Managed Care business and several contract wins from time to time have further solidified its business. With an eye on intensifying focus on the same business, CNC resorted to divest two of its pharmacy businesses PANTHERx and Magellan Rx in 2022. It also sold its Spanish and Central European businesses this year, thereby highlighting the divestiture spree that the company had been on during 2022.
Shares of Centene have gained 16.3% in a year compared with the industry’s growth of 15.8%.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
CNC currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the Medical space are ShockWave Medical, Inc. SWAV, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated UNH and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
ShockWave Medical’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average beat being 146.10%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SWAV’s 2022 earnings is pegged at $2.92 per share. A loss of 26 cents per share was reported in the prior year. The consensus mark for SWAV’s 2022 earnings has moved 13.6% north in the past 30 days.
The bottom line of UnitedHealth Group outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 4.60%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNH’s 2022 earnings indicates a rise of 15.8%, while the same for revenues suggests an improvement of 12.6% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for UNH’s 2022 earnings has moved 0.7% north in the past 60 days.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average being 3.16%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRTX’s 2022 earnings indicates a rise of 12.5%, while the same for revenues suggests an improvement of 17.6% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for VRTX’s 2022 earnings has moved 0.3% north in the past seven days.
Shares of ShockWave Medical, UnitedHealth Group and Vertex Pharmaceuticals have gained 19.6%, 15% and 50.9%, respectively, in a year.
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