Reviewing Chemed (CHE) and Its Rivals

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

95.8% of Chemed shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.0% of shares of all “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Chemed shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.4% of shares of all “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chemed and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chemed	$2.53 billion	$265.24 million	25.55
Chemed Competitors	$20.91 billion	$281.74 million	-0.13

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Chemed and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chemed	0	5	2	0	2.29
Chemed Competitors	1815	7604	13056	798	2.55

Chemed currently has a consensus target price of $554.60, suggesting a potential upside of 9.03%. As a group, “Healthcare Providers & Services” companies have a potential upside of 18.00%. Given Chemed’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Chemed has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Volatility & Risk

Chemed has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chemed’s peers have a beta of 0.97, suggesting 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 0.6%. 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 1.6% and pay out 26.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Chemed has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Chemed and its peers’ 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	-7.75%	-139.79%	-1.52%

Summary

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

Chemed Company Profile

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.