Centene Corporation (CNC) Key Metrics
CNC valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $34.16B
- Enterprise value
- $19.72B
- P/E (TTM)
- — 10-yr median 20.0
- Forward P/E
- 11.2
- PEG ratio
- 0.75
- Price / sales
- 0.2 10-yr median 0.3
- Price / book
- 1.4 10-yr median 1.7
- EV / EBITDA
- 3.9 10-yr median 10.2
- Dividend yield
- —
- Beta
- 1.13
CNC key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsCNC valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
Price / sales−46.7%
0.1
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Price / book−15.7%
1.0
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Price / free cash flow
4.7
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Free cash flow yield+22.9 pts
21.4%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
CNC returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
Return on equity−41.4 pts
−28.8%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Return on invested capital−33.1 pts
−24.1%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Return on assets−12.3 pts
−8.3%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Free cash flow margin+2.5 pts
2.2%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Asset turnover+24.7%
2.43
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
CNC per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
Revenue per share+27.4%
$396.64
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Earnings per share
−$13.59
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Free cash flow per share
$8.80
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Book value per share−19.4%
$40.63
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Shares outstanding−6.2%
491.1M
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
CNC financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
Debt / equity+27.9%
0.94
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Net debt−$1.9B
$889.0M
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Current ratio+51.1%
1.68
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Interest coverage
-11.2
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Debt / assets+2.6%
0.24
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
CNC efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
Days sales outstanding−4 days
35 days
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Days payables outstanding−1 days
36 days
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Cash conversion cycle−3 days
-0 days
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Capex / revenue0.0 pts
0.4%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
Dividends + buybacks / FCF
11.0%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
20162025
CNC valuation history
Fiscal year-endToday10-year median
CNC returns on capital
ROEROICROA
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
CNC debt vs cash
Total debtCash & short-term investments
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
CNC cash returned to shareholders
DividendsBuybacksFree cash flow
CNC price vs earnings per share
Share price at year-endEPS (right axis)
CNC key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $20.21B | $31.73B | $40.50B | $47.73B | $48.66B | $34.77B | $26.43B | $22.97B | $17.81B | $9.27B |
| Enterprise value | $21.10B | $34.47B | $39.72B | $54.67B | $56.66B | $40.70B | $27.95B | $23.60B | $17.91B | $9.49B |
| P/E ratio | — | 9.6 | 15.0 | 39.7 | 36.1 | 19.2 | 20.0 | 25.5 | 21.5 | 16.5 |
| Price / sales | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Price / book | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Price / free cash flow | 4.7 | — | 5.6 | 9.1 | 14.8 | 7.5 | 35.1 | 41.1 | 16.7 | 6.0 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 4.0 | 206.0 | 5.0 | 7.6 | 11.6 | 6.3 | 17.8 | 18.6 | 12.0 | 5.0 |
| EV / sales | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| EV / EBITDA | — | 5.6 | 13.6 | 13.1 | 14.3 | 8.6 | 9.9 | 10.7 | 10.2 | 5.7 |
| EV / free cash flow | 4.9 | — | 5.5 | 10.4 | 17.2 | 8.8 | 37.1 | 42.2 | 16.8 | 6.1 |
| Earnings yield | −33.0% | 10.4% | 6.7% | 2.5% | 2.8% | 5.2% | 5.0% | 3.9% | 4.6% | 6.1% |
| Free cash flow yield | 21.4% | −1.5% | 17.9% | 11.0% | 6.8% | 13.3% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 6.0% | 16.7% |
| Dividend yield | — | — | 0.2% | — | 0.1% | — | — | 26.5% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 2.4% | 9.8% | 4.2% | 6.5% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 0.3% | 26.8% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $41.15 | $60.58 | $74.21 | $82.01 | $82.40 | $60.03 | $62.87 | $57.65 | $50.44 | $28.25 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $396.64 | $311.36 | $282.20 | $248.35 | $213.34 | $191.86 | $177.54 | $150.85 | $137.02 | $123.82 |
| Earnings per share | −$13.59 | $6.31 | $4.95 | $2.07 | $2.28 | $3.12 | $3.14 | $2.26 | $2.35 | $1.71 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $10.36 | $0.29 | $14.76 | $10.76 | $7.12 | $9.50 | $3.53 | $3.10 | $4.22 | $5.64 |
| Free cash flow per share | $8.80 | −$0.94 | $13.29 | $9.03 | $5.58 | $8.00 | $1.79 | $1.40 | $3.02 | $4.71 |
| Cash per share | $36.43 | $31.86 | $36.01 | $24.73 | $24.82 | $21.38 | $30.89 | $15.22 | $13.04 | $13.52 |
| Book value per share | $40.63 | $50.43 | $47.35 | $41.33 | $45.38 | $44.50 | $29.85 | $27.39 | $19.40 | $17.98 |
| Tangible book value per share | $9.34 | $6.57 | $4.00 | −$2.86 | −$1.35 | −$2.19 | $8.62 | $4.17 | $1.99 | −$1.10 |
| Dividends per share | — | — | $0.16 | — | $0.06 | — | — | $15.25 | $0.19 | $0.00 |
| Capex per share | $1.56 | $1.23 | $1.46 | $1.72 | $1.54 | $1.50 | $1.74 | $1.69 | $1.20 | $0.93 |
| Debt per share | $38.24 | $37.10 | $34.59 | $36.65 | $38.37 | $31.63 | $34.51 | $16.78 | $13.31 | $14.19 |
| Shares outstanding | 491.1M | 523.7M | 545.7M | 582.0M | 590.5M | 579.1M | 420.4M | 398.5M | 353.1M | 328.0M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −6.2% | −4.0% | −6.2% | −1.4% | +2.0% | +37.8% | +5.5% | +12.9% | +7.7% | +33.2% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | −28.8% | 12.7% | 10.8% | 4.7% | 5.1% | 9.4% | 11.3% | 10.1% | 13.0% | 14.0% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | −24.1% | 9.1% | 7.8% | 2.5% | 4.0% | 8.7% | 10.2% | 10.3% | 13.1% | 16.7% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | −8.3% | 4.0% | 3.3% | 1.5% | 1.8% | 3.3% | 3.7% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 4.1% |
| Return on tangible assets | −10.7% | 5.6% | 4.4% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 4.3% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 5.3% | 4.0% |
| Free cash flow margin | 2.2% | −0.3% | 4.7% | 3.6% | 2.6% | 4.2% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 2.2% | 3.8% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | — | 0.05 | 2.98 | 5.21 | 3.12 | 3.04 | 1.12 | 1.37 | 1.80 | 3.29 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $18.78B | $19.43B | $18.88B | $21.33B | $22.66B | $18.32B | $14.51B | $6.69B | $4.70B | $4.66B |
| Cash & short-term investments | $17.89B | $16.68B | $19.65B | $14.39B | $14.66B | $12.38B | $12.99B | $6.06B | $4.60B | $4.43B |
| Net debt | $889.0M | $2.74B | −$775.0M | $6.94B | $8.00B | $5.94B | $1.52B | $622.0M | $96.0M | $220.0M |
| Debt / equity | 0.94 | 0.74 | 0.73 | 0.89 | 0.85 | 0.71 | 1.16 | 0.61 | 0.69 | 0.79 |
| Debt / assets | 0.24 | 0.24 | 0.22 | 0.28 | 0.29 | 0.27 | 0.35 | 0.22 | 0.22 | 0.23 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 0.44 | −0.26 | 1.66 | 2.02 | 1.25 | 0.54 | 0.28 | 0.05 | 0.13 |
| Current ratio | 1.68 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 1.06 | 1.11 | 1.08 | 1.57 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.97 |
| Quick ratio | 1.68 | 1.11 | 2.07 | 1.06 | 1.11 | 1.08 | 1.57 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.97 |
| Interest coverage | -11.2 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 5.8 |
| Working capital | $14.52B | $3.74B | $4.04B | $1.66B | $2.73B | $1.81B | $7.39B | $27.0M | −$629.0M | −$258.0M |
| Invested capital | $20.84B | $29.15B | $25.07B | $31.00B | $34.80B | $31.71B | $14.07B | $11.54B | $6.95B | $6.12B |
| Tangible asset value | $4.69B | $3.54B | $2.30B | −$1.49B | −$573.0M | −$1.08B | $3.77B | $1.77B | $729.0M | −$203.0M |
| Net current asset value | −$21.61B | −$17.94B | −$17.93B | −$22.50B | −$22.86B | −$19.36B | −$7.98B | −$7.88B | −$6.28B | −$5.78B |
| Graham number | — | $84.61 | $72.63 | $43.82 | $48.26 | $55.91 | $45.94 | $37.31 | $31.99 | $26.33 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$53.23 | −$46.71 | −$82.42 | −$48.59 | −$46.60 | −$39.90 | −$25.29 | −$24.97 | −$22.14 | −$22.25 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | — | — | $88.0M | — | $35.0M | — | — | $6.08B | $66.0M | $0 |
| Share buybacks (net) | $475.0M | $3.12B | $1.63B | $3.10B | $297.0M | $626.0M | $75.0M | $71.0M | $65.0M | $63.0M |
| Dividend payout ratio | — | — | 3.3% | — | 2.6% | — | — | 675.2% | 8.0% | 0.0% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 11.0% | — | 23.7% | 58.9% | 10.1% | 13.5% | 10.0% | — | 12.3% | 4.1% |
| Capex / revenue | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 15.1% | 418.2% | 9.9% | 16.0% | 21.6% | 15.8% | 49.2% | 54.7% | 28.3% | 16.5% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.60 | 0.52 | 0.62 | 0.65 | 0.62 | 0.69 | 1.14 | 1.36 | 1.17 | 1.10 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| SG&A / revenue | 6.8% | 7.6% | 8.0% | 14.5% | 8.5% | 10.2% | 8.8% | 11.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 35.4 | 39.4 | 34.1 | 32.2 | 31.8 | 26.2 | 27.9 | 26.0 | 25.0 | 20.2 |
| Days of inventory on hand | — | — | -104.9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Days payables outstanding | 35.8 | 36.5 | 38.1 | 25.2 | 25.1 | 21.1 | 22.3 | 29.0 | 34.0 | 24.7 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | -0.4 | 2.9 | -108.9 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 5.1 | 5.5 | -3.0 | -9.0 | -4.5 |
| Receivables turnover | 10.30 | 9.25 | 10.69 | 11.33 | 11.49 | 13.94 | 13.10 | 14.04 | 14.60 | 18.07 |
| Payables turnover | 10.19 | 9.99 | 9.57 | 14.51 | 14.56 | 17.32 | 16.34 | 12.58 | 10.74 | 14.80 |
| Asset turnover | 2.43 | 1.95 | 1.91 | 1.86 | 1.71 | 2.03 | 2.08 | 2.28 | 2.30 | 2.95 |
| Average receivables | $18.91B | $17.62B | $14.40B | $12.76B | $10.97B | $7.97B | $5.70B | $4.28B | $3.31B | $2.25B |
| Average payables | $16.78B | $14.63B | $12.80B | $8.82B | $7.68B | $5.54B | $4.03B | $4.11B | $3.96B | $2.37B |
| Average inventory | — | — | −$35.18B | — | — | — | — | — | $0 | $0 |
| Intangibles / total assets | 19.8% | 27.9% | 28.0% | 33.5% | 35.2% | 39.3% | 21.8% | 29.9% | 28.1% | 31.0% |
Computed from CNC's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 17, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
CNC valuation and financial ratios
Centene earned a return on equity of −28.8% and a return on invested capital of −24.1% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $18.8 billion of debt and $17.9 billion in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $889.0 million. It returned $475.0 million to shareholders: $0 in dividends and $475.0 million in share buybacks, 11% of free cash flow. The share count rose 49.7% from 328.0M to 491.1M over 9 years.
See the CNC income statement, the CNC chart for price history, or the CNC stock overview for the latest quote and news.
CNC key metrics FAQ
What is Centene's return on equity?
Centene's return on equity (ROE) was −28.8% in fiscal 2025: net income of -$6.7 billion on average shareholders' equity of $23.2 billion.
What is Centene's ROIC?
Centene's return on invested capital was −24.1% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Centene have?
Centene had total debt of $18.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.
Does Centene buy back its shares?
Yes. Centene spent $475.0 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −6.2% over the year, to 491.1M..
What is Centene's free cash flow yield?
Centene generated $4.3 billion of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 21.4% on its market value at year-end ($20.2 billion).
What is Centene's current ratio?
Centene's current ratio was 1.68 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 1.68 times current liabilities.