ABT vs. CNC: Abbott Laboratories vs. Centene Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC) both fall under the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group, but ABT is classified in Health Care Equipment & Supplies while CNC is classified in Health Care Providers & Services.

Company profile comparison for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Profile Item	ABT	CNC
Name	Abbott Laboratories	Centene Corp.
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Health Care	Health Care
GICS Industry Group	Health Care Equipment & Services	Health Care Equipment & Services
GICS Industry	Health Care Equipment & Supplies	Health Care Providers & Services
GICS Sub-Industry	Health Care Equipment	Managed Health Care
Market Capitalization	190.39 billion USD	34.53 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	NYSE
Listing Date	March 17, 1980	December 13, 2001
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

ABT

CNC

GSPC

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
Total Return (1Y)	-10.78%	84.77%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	7.79%	-0.97%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	-0.79%	-1.48%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

ABT

CNC

GSPC

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	28.48%	46.34%
Beta (5Y)	0.53	1.07
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-39.64%	-74.07%
Avg. Volume (3M)	8.74M	4.63M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

ABT and CNC are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-0.53	1.74
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-0.76	2.71

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 9.14% and Centene (CNC) at 6.74% land near their industries’ usual ROE ranges, so capital efficiency looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

9.14%

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
ABT: 9.14%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

6.74%

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
CNC: 6.74%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their ROE against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 9.75% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Centene (CNC) at 0.81%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

9.75%

Max: 29.35%
ABT: 9.75%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.81%

Max: 29.35%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
CNC: 0.81%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their net margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 11.66% and Centene (CNC) at 0.74% run core operations about as efficiently as their industries’ norm — neither stands out on operating profitability.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

11.66%

Max: 35.43%
Q3: 14.14%
ABT: 11.66%
Median: 6.81%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.74%

Max: 35.43%
Q3: 14.14%
Median: 6.81%
CNC: 0.74%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their operating margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
ROE (TTM)	9.14%	6.74%
ROA (TTM)	4.90%	2.68%
Net Margin (TTM)	9.75%	0.81%
Operating Margin (TTM)	11.66%	0.74%
Gross Margin (TTM)	57.17%	11.34%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 5.67% and Centene (CNC) at 19.44% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Neither side shows strong earnings momentum: Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at -51.31% sits in the bottom EPS growth quartile, and Centene (CNC) at -314.42% is weaker still, below its industry range.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
Revenue Growth (YoY)	5.67%	19.44%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	0.51%	10.45%
EPS Growth (YoY)	-51.31%	-314.42%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	-1.65%	--

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 1.46 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while Centene (CNC) at 1.16 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — a thinner cushion against current liabilities for CNC.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.46

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
ABT: 1.46
Q1: 1.37
Min: 0.30

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.16

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
Q1: 1.37
CNC: 1.16
Min: 0.30

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their current ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 0.61 and Centene (CNC) at 0.70 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.61

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
ABT: 0.61
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.70

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
CNC: 0.70
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
Current Ratio (MRQ)	1.46	1.16
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.61	0.70
Net Debt / EBITDA	2.37	-1.71

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Centene (CNC) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reports a yield of 2.22%, ranking against industry peers normally.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

2.22%

ABT: 2.22%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

CNC: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Centene (CNC) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reports a payout of 92.54%, ranking against industry peers normally.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

92.54%

ABT: 92.54%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

CNC: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
Dividend Yield (TTM)	2.22%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	92.54%	0.00%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 41.02 and Centene (CNC) at 23.97 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

41.02

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
ABT: 41.02
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

23.97

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
Median: 29.93
CNC: 23.97
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

Centene (CNC) at 0.19 sits in the cheaper P/S ratio quartile while Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 3.95 prices around its industry’s middle — CNC costs less per dollar of sales, though read it alongside growth and margins.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

3.95

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
ABT: 3.95
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.03

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.19

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
CNC: 0.19
Min: 0.03

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Centene (CNC) at 1.55 sits in the lower P/B ratio quartile against book while Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 3.73 is valued near its industry’s middle — CNC is cheaper on assets, though weigh it against ROE and asset quality.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

3.73

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
ABT: 3.73
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31

CNC

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.55

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
CNC: 1.55
Min: -1.31

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. Centene (CNC): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Centene (CNC)
Metric	ABT	CNC
P/E Ratio (TTM)	41.02	23.97
P/S Ratio (TTM)	3.95	0.19
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	3.73	1.55
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	3.19%	8.93%