Head-To-Head Contrast: Addus HomeCare (NASDAQ:ADUS) & Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Addus HomeCare (NASDAQ:ADUS) and Centene (NYSE:CNC) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.3% of Addus HomeCare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Centene shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Addus HomeCare shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Centene shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Addus HomeCare has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Centene has a beta of 1.13, meaning that its share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Addus HomeCare and Centene’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Addus HomeCare	7.13%	9.96%	7.62%
Centene	-2.51%	12.12%	3.20%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Addus HomeCare and Centene, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Addus HomeCare	1	4	5	1	2.55
Centene	2	10	9	0	2.33

Addus HomeCare currently has a consensus price target of $129.33, suggesting a potential upside of 11.51%. Centene has a consensus price target of $70.05, suggesting a potential upside of 1.12%. Given Addus HomeCare’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Addus HomeCare is more favorable than Centene.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Addus HomeCare and Centene”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Addus HomeCare	$1.48 billion	1.47	$95.91 million	$5.70	20.35
Centene	$194.78 billion	0.18	-$6.67 billion	($10.44)	-6.64

Addus HomeCare has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Centene. Centene is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Addus HomeCare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Addus HomeCare beats Centene on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Addus HomeCare

Addus HomeCare Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides personal care services to elderly, chronically ill, disabled persons, and individuals who are at risk of hospitalization or institutionalization in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Personal Care, Hospice, and Home Health. The Personal Care segment provides non-medical assistance with activities of daily living. This segment offers services that include assistance with bathing, grooming, oral care, feeding and dressing, medication reminders, meal planning and preparation, housekeeping, and transportation services. The Hospice segment provides palliative nursing care, social work, spiritual counseling, homemaker, and bereavement counseling services for people who are terminally ill, as well as related services for their families. The Home Health segment offers skilled nursing and physical, occupational, and speech therapy for the individuals who requires assistance during an illness or after hospitalization. The company's payor clients include federal, state, and local governmental agencies; managed care organizations; commercial insurers; and private individuals. Addus HomeCare Corporation was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Frisco, Texas.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support. This segment also provides healthcare products. The Medicare segment offers special needs and medicare supplement, and prescription drug plans. The Commercial segment provides health insurance marketplace product for individual, small, and large group commercials. It also operates clinical healthcare and pharmacies, as well as offers dental and speech therapy services. In addition, the company engages in the government contracts business under the TRICARE program and other healthcare related government contracts. It provides services through primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, and ancillary providers. Centene Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.