Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Free Report) and LifeMD (NASDAQ:LFMD – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
93.6% of Centene shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.5% of LifeMD shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Centene shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.2% of LifeMD shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Centene and LifeMD”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Centene | $194.78 billion | 0.16 | -$6.67 billion | ($10.44) | -6.15 |
| LifeMD | $194.05 million | 0.73 | $14.35 million | ($0.05) | -59.00 |
LifeMD has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Centene. LifeMD is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Centene, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Centene and LifeMD, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Centene | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 2.40 |
| LifeMD | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2.70 |
Centene currently has a consensus target price of $70.05, indicating a potential upside of 9.16%. LifeMD has a consensus target price of $7.57, indicating a potential upside of 156.66%. Given LifeMD’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe LifeMD is more favorable than Centene.
Profitability
This table compares Centene and LifeMD’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Centene | -2.51% | 12.12% | 3.20% |
| LifeMD | 0.10% | -168.23% | -31.27% |
Risk & Volatility
Centene has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LifeMD has a beta of 2.04, suggesting that its stock price is 104% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
LifeMD beats Centene on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About LifeMD
LifeMD, Inc. operates as a direct-to-patient telehealth company that connects consumers to healthcare professionals for medical care in the United States. The company offers telehealth platform comprising RexMD, a men's telehealth brand that provides access to virtual medical treatment for a variety of men's health needs from licensed physician; ShapiroMD that provides virtual medical treatment, prescription medications, patented doctor formulated OTC products, topical compounded medications, and medical devices treating male and female hair loss; NavaMD, a female-oriented tele-dermatology that offers virtual medical treatment from dermatologists and other providers; and prescription oral and compounded topical medications to treat aging and acne; and Cleared which provides personalized treatments for allergy, asthma and immunology, including in-home tests for both environmental and food allergies, prescriptions for allergies and asthma and immunotherapies for treating chronic allergies. It also provides LifeMD PC, a direct-to-consumer virtual primary care which includes 24/7 access to a provider for their primary care, urgent care, and chronic care needs; and offers virtual consultations and treatment, prescription medications, diagnostics and imaging, wellness coaching, and more. In addition, the company offers PDFSimpli, an online software as a service platform that allows users to create, edit, convert, sign, and share PDF documents; ResumeBuild which provides digital resume and cover letter services; SignSimpli, a digital signature platform; and LegalSimpli, a provider of legal forms for consumers and small businesses. It sells its products directly to consumers and through e-commerce platforms, as well as through third party partner channels. The company was formerly known as Conversion Labs, Inc. and changed its name to LifeMD, Inc. in February 2021. LifeMD, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
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