Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share on Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th.

Chemed has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Chemed has a dividend payout ratio of 7.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Chemed to earn $23.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.6%.

Chemed Stock Up 0.4%

CHE traded up $2.47 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $580.49. The company had a trading volume of 129,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,885. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $586.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $564.69. Chemed has a 52 week low of $512.12 and a 52 week high of $623.61.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.59 by $0.04. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $646.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chemed will post 21.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In other Chemed news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.99, for a total transaction of $866,985.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,454,259.73. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.33, for a total transaction of $615,330.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,566,139.07. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,401,120 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHE has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Chemed from $667.00 to $674.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

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.