Smith Salley Wealth Management Acquires 307 Shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,988 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management owned 0.11% of Chemed worth $9,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Chemed by 14.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 24.9% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 722 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Chemed by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 153,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,536,000 after acquiring an additional 24,721 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT purchased a new stake in Chemed during the 2nd quarter valued at about $250,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Chemed by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chemed Stock Performance

Shares of CHE stock opened at $555.01 on Friday. Chemed Co. has a fifty-two week low of $512.12 and a fifty-two week high of $654.62. The firm has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $545.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $562.65.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.76 by ($0.12). Chemed had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The company had revenue of $606.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.22 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 EPS for the current year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Chemed’s payout ratio is 10.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.77, for a total transaction of $1,145,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,270,755.95. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.62, for a total transaction of $421,353.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,526,362.94. This trade represents a 3.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Chemed from $697.00 to $633.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Chemed 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.