Vest Financial LLC Increases Position in Chemed Corporation $CHE

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) by 68.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,319 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,981 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Chemed were worth $3,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CHE. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Chemed during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new stake in Chemed during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Chemed during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Chemed during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Chemed by 330.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $490.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Chemed from $640.00 to $589.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Chemed from $650.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Chemed in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Chemed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $578.50.

Chemed Stock Performance

NYSE CHE opened at $429.20 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $448.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $507.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.43. Chemed Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $408.42 and a fifty-two week high of $623.60.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.02 by ($1.75). The company had revenue of $618.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.60 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 11.56%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.47 EPS. Chemed has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.000-22.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Chemed Corporation will post 21.43 EPS for the current year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This is a positive change from Chemed’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $461.28, for a total value of $1,383,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,373,752.16. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 10,012 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $421.91, for a total value of $4,224,162.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,162 shares of company stock valued at $5,677,511. 3.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.