Centene Corp vs Humana Inc

Centene Corp (CNC) is slightly undervalued and Humana Inc (HUM) is fairly valued.

Against our estimates of intrinsic value, CNC trades at the wider discount: a margin of safety of +20%, against -4% for HUM.

Values as of the 22 Sept 2026 close.

Centene Corp (CNC)

Its through-the-cycle earnings (2.2% median margin), capitalised at 8.5% with no growth, values the shares at $78.72; the price of $63.30 is 20% below that value.

Leak Score 34/100 on 8 of 12 signals

Humana Inc (HUM)

Discounting its cash flows at 8.3% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $358.19; the price of $372.00 is 4% above that value, and 79% of that value comes from beyond year five.

Leak Score 36/100 on 10 of 12 signals

MetricCNCHUM
VerdictSlightly undervaluedFairly valued
Price$63.30$372.00
Intrinsic value$78.72$358.19
Margin of safety+20%-4%
Leak Score34/100 (8/12)36/100 (10/12)
Market cap$31.3B$44.7B
Revenue growth, 5 years11.9%10.9%
Operating margin0.8%1.9%
Net margin-2.5%0.9%
Return on equity-20.4%6.8%
Debt to equity0.710.74
P/E35.2x
Forward P/E11.9x22.1x
P/B1.4x2.3x
Dividend yield1.0%

All stocks in Healthcare Plans