Chemed (NYSE:CHE) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Chemed (NYSE:CHE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CHE. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Chemed in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Chemed from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Chemed from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Chemed from $436.00 to $548.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $530.75.

Chemed Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CHE opened at $499.50 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $523.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $456.37. Chemed has a 52-week low of $365.20 and a 52-week high of $557.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.60 by $0.46. Chemed had a return on equity of 31.77% and a net margin of 10.60%.The company had revenue of $673.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Chemed has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.000-25.750 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Chemed will post 23.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a boost from Chemed’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Chemed’s payout ratio is currently 14.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Patrick Grace sold 190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.00, for a total value of $101,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,879,556. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin McNamara sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.40, for a total value of $1,002,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 68,418 shares in the company, valued at $34,304,785.20. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 7,190 shares of company stock worth $3,806,260 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Chemed during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Chemed by 9.7% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 27,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Chemed by 4,167.3% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Chemed by 50.5% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 5,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Chemed by 28.8% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.85% of the company’s stock.

Chemed Company Profile

Chemed Corporation is a diversified holding company that operates businesses in the healthcare and residential and commercial services industries. Its primary operations are conducted through VITAS Healthcare and Roto-Rooter.

VITAS Healthcare provides hospice and palliative care for patients with advanced illnesses. Its services are delivered in patients’ homes, hospice residences, nursing facilities, hospitals and other care settings, primarily throughout the United States. Care is provided by interdisciplinary teams that may include physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers and chaplains.

Roto-Rooter provides plumbing and drain-cleaning services, as well as water cleanup and related services for residential and commercial customers.