Chemed Corporation $CHE Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has significantly increased its stake in Chemed Corporation by 63.6% during the first quarter, owning over $4 million worth of shares by acquiring an additional 2,531 shares.
• Chemed's stock ratings have been mixed, with Wall Street Zen downgrading it from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, while Bank of America maintains a "buy" rating with a lowered target price of $650.
• Chemed Corporation declared a new quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, a boost from the previous dividend of $0.50, and has set its FY 2025 earnings guidance at 22.000-22.300 EPS.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) by 63.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,508 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,531 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Chemed were worth $4,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Chemed by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 950 shares of the company's stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Chemed during the first quarter worth $265,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Chemed by 53.3% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 161 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Chemed by 71.2% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chemed by 108.4% in the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other news, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 10,012 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $421.91, for a total transaction of $4,224,162.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director George J. Walsh III purchased 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $417.10 per share, for a total transaction of $83,420.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,469,443.30. This trade represents a 6.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Chemed Stock Performance

CHE stock traded down $2.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $461.66. The company had a trading volume of 59,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,615. The company has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $459.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $536.02. Chemed Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $408.42 and a fifty-two week high of $623.60.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.02 by ($1.75). Chemed had a return on equity of 25.83% and a net margin of 11.56%.The company had revenue of $618.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $650.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Chemed has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.000-22.300 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Chemed Corporation will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from Chemed's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Chemed's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Chemed from $708.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Chemed from $640.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Chemed from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $490.00 to $550.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Chemed from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Chemed from $650.00 to $580.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $592.25.

Chemed Company 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.