BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Acquires New Stake in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 28,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,783,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments owned 0.19% of Chemed at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Chemed in the fourth quarter worth about $95,872,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Chemed in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,664,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Chemed during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,023,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Chemed by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 283,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,352,000 after buying an additional 45,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Chemed by 114.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,554,000 after buying an additional 39,791 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chemed Stock Performance

Chemed stock opened at $575.89 on Friday. Chemed Co. has a 52 week low of $512.12 and a 52 week high of $623.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $590.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $566.06.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.59 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $646.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.78 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. Chemed’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.74%.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.33, for a total transaction of $615,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,679 shares in the company, valued at $62,566,139.07. The trade was a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CHE. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Chemed from $667.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

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.