Vest Financial LLC Buys New Shares in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,669,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CHE. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 51 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Chemed by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 56 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Chemed by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 185 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Chemed by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chemed Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CHE opened at $561.84 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $575.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $566.08. The company has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.54. Chemed Co. has a 1 year low of $512.12 and a 1 year high of $623.61.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $646.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.78 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.74%.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $576.45, for a total value of $864,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,335,010.65. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 5,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,213,780 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Chemed from $667.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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.