Chemed (NYSE:CHE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Chemed from “buy” to “strong-buy,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $554.60.
• Chemed reported quarterly EPS of $6.06, beating estimates by $0.46, while revenue rose 8.8% year over year to $673.25 million.
• Institutional investors own 95.85% of the stock, but company insiders have sold 9,190 shares worth approximately $4.83 million over the past 90 days.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

CHE has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Chemed in a report on Friday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $650.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Chemed from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Chemed from $436.00 to $548.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Chemed in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Chemed from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $554.60.

Chemed Stock Up 0.2%

CHE opened at $499.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.51. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $521.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $466.34. Chemed has a twelve month low of $365.20 and a twelve month high of $557.00.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $6.06 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Chemed has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.000-25.750 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Chemed will post 23.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick P. Grace sold 190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.00, for a total transaction of $101,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,879,556. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $541.04, for a total transaction of $541,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,526,948.48. The trade was a 6.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,190 shares of company stock worth $4,833,160 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.33% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chemed

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Chemed during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,726,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Chemed in the second quarter valued at about $4,413,000. Lone Peak Global Investors LLC raised its position in Chemed by 38.1% in the second quarter. Lone Peak Global Investors LLC now owns 37,099 shares of the company's stock worth $17,279,000 after purchasing an additional 10,226 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Chemed by 41.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 12,346 shares of the company's stock worth $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Chemed by 51.5% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 53,856 shares of the company's stock worth $25,083,000 after purchasing an additional 18,301 shares during the period. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Chemed

Chemed Corporation is a diversified services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its operations are organized through two principal businesses: VITAS Healthcare and Roto-Rooter.

VITAS Healthcare provides hospice and palliative care for patients with advanced illnesses. Its services include clinical care, pain and symptom management, emotional and spiritual support, and assistance for patients and their families in homes, hospice residences, hospitals, nursing facilities, and other care settings.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.