Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $530.75.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CHE shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Chemed in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chemed from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Chemed from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Chemed from $436.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick Grace sold 190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.00, for a total value of $101,080.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,879,556. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Spencer Lee sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $541.04, for a total transaction of $541,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 13,912 shares in the company, valued at $7,526,948.48. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,190 shares of company stock valued at $2,803,460. 3.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chemed

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chemed during the 2nd quarter worth about $691,290,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Chemed by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 324,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,860,000 after purchasing an additional 22,715 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Chemed by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 322,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,945,000 after purchasing an additional 15,133 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Chemed by 24.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 236,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,295,000 after purchasing an additional 46,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Chemed in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,067,000. 95.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chemed Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of CHE stock opened at $505.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Chemed has a twelve month low of $365.20 and a twelve month high of $557.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $522.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $455.27. The stock has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.51.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.60 by $0.46. Chemed had a net margin of 10.60% and a return on equity of 31.77%. The firm had revenue of $673.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $665.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.27 earnings per share. Chemed’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Chemed has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.000-25.750 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chemed will post 23.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Chemed’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.06%.

About Chemed

Chemed Corporation is a diversified holding company that operates businesses in the healthcare and residential and commercial services industries. Its primary operations are conducted through VITAS Healthcare and Roto-Rooter.

VITAS Healthcare provides hospice and palliative care for patients with advanced illnesses. Its services are delivered in patients’ homes, hospice residences, nursing facilities, hospitals and other care settings, primarily throughout the United States. Care is provided by interdisciplinary teams that may include physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers and chaplains.

Roto-Rooter provides plumbing and drain-cleaning services, as well as water cleanup and related services for residential and commercial customers.