Raymond James & Associates Raises Stock Position in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,086 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,168 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.48% of Chemed worth $46,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CHE. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Chemed in the first quarter worth about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Chemed during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Chemed in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chemed during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Chemed by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total value of $1,283,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,320,654. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Chemed news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total transaction of $1,283,300.00. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Michael D. Witzeman sold 2,650 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.14, for a total value of $1,704,321.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,853,529.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,808 shares of company stock valued at $10,184,531 over the last 90 days. 3.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Chemed from $604.00 to $712.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Chemed from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday.

Chemed Stock Performance

Shares of CHE traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $561.65. 70,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 83,809. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $620.66 and a 200-day moving average of $593.17. Chemed Co. has a 52 week low of $492.84 and a 52 week high of $654.62.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $589.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.18 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 12.36%. Sell-side analysts predict that Chemed Co. will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Chemed’s payout ratio is 8.61%.

Chemed 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.