Centene Corporation (CNC), a ~$21 billion managed care health plan company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, represents an interesting long buying opportunity for shareholders today. The stock is down slightly year-to-date in light of uncertainty around its $15 billion acquisition of WellCare Health plans (WCG) announced in March.
While this deal is somewhat negative to short-term earnings, as management has acknowledged, substantial synergies in the long term should prove themselves out given the companies' similar business lines and operations. This makes CNC shares an attractive investment opportunity today for patient investors.