Wall Street Zen Downgrades Chemed (NYSE:CHE) to Buy

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

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

Chemed Trading Down 0.2%

Chemed stock opened at $503.12 on Friday. Chemed has a 52 week low of $365.20 and a 52 week high of $557.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $523.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $455.85.

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. The firm had revenue of $673.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.04 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 31.77% and a net margin of 10.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.27 EPS. Chemed has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.000-25.750 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Chemed will post 23.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In related news, Director Patrick P. Grace sold 190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 3,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,879,556. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $541.16, for a total transaction of $1,082,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 70,418 shares in the company, valued at $38,107,404.88. This represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,190 shares of company stock valued at $2,803,460. 3.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chemed

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Chemed in the second quarter worth about $563,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Chemed by 4,167.3% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Chemed by 50.5% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 5,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chemed by 28.8% in the 2nd 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.

About Chemed

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.