Managed care company Centene Corp. CNC, +8.52% posted better-than-expected profit and revenue for the third quarter, boosted by a strong performance by Medicaid and Medicare. Centene had net income of $738 million, or $1.27 a share, in the quarter, up from $584 million, or 99 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.30, ahead of the $1.23 FactSet consensus. Revenue climbed to $35.865 billion from $32.406 billion, also ahead of the $35.502 billion FactSet consensus. Revenue growth was driven by organic Medicaid and Medicare growth, the company said in a statement. Its health benefits ratio, a metric that measures the cost of providing underwriting insurance to the revenues received from those policies, stood at 88.3%, driven by strong Medicare results and an inline performance from Medicaid and Commercial. The company is now expecting full-year revenue of $142.8 billion to $144.7 billion, and adjusted EPS of $5.65 to $5.75. The FactSet consensus is for full-year EPS of $5.73 on revenue of $143.4 billion. Shares were slightly lower premarket and are down 8% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.08% has fallen 20%.
