Reviewing Chemed (CHE) and Its Peers

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) is one of 235 publicly-traded companies in the “Healthcare Providers & Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Chemed to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chemed and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chemed	$2.53 billion	$265.24 million	26.16
Chemed Competitors	$20.60 billion	$281.57 million	1.50

Chemed’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Chemed. Chemed is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Chemed and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemed	0	5	1	0	2.17
Chemed Competitors	1792	7547	12968	789	2.55

Chemed presently has a consensus target price of $530.75, indicating a potential upside of 1.91%. As a group, “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies have a potential upside of 14.51%. Given Chemed’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Chemed has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Chemed and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chemed	10.60%	31.77%	18.90%
Chemed Competitors	-7.69%	-139.74%	-1.50%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.8% of Chemed shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.9% of shares of all “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Chemed shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of shares of all “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Chemed has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemed’s rivals have a beta of 0.97, meaning that their average share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Chemed pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Chemed pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.5% and pay out 25.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemed has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Summary

Chemed rivals beat Chemed on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Chemed

Chemed Corporation provides hospice and palliative care services to patients through a network of physicians, registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy, and volunteers primarily in the United States. The company operates in VITAS and Roto-Rooter segments. It offers plumbing, drain cleaning, excavation, water restoration, and other related services to residential and commercial customers through company-owned branches, independent contractors, and franchisees. The company was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.