Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Chemed (NYSE:CHE) Price Target to $697.00

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) had its price target cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $712.00 to $697.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CHE. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Chemed from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Chemed from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th.

Chemed Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CHE opened at $556.39 on Tuesday. Chemed has a 12-month low of $492.84 and a 12-month high of $654.62. The stock has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $600.87 and a 200-day moving average of $595.03.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.09 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $589.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.18 million. Chemed had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 30.52%. Equities research analysts expect that Chemed will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chemed

In other Chemed news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total transaction of $2,270,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 108,549 shares in the company, valued at $61,605,899.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total transaction of $1,283,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,760 shares in the company, valued at $13,320,654. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total transaction of $2,270,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 108,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,605,899.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock worth $12,454,691 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 14.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Chemed by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 385 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Chemed by 10.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.