Ascent Group LLC Invests $258,000 in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Ascent Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 487 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Chemed by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the company's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Chemed by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,614,000 after buying an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Chemed by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,921 shares of the company's stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Chemed by 1,436.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,809 shares of the company's stock worth $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 5,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Chemed by 105.4% in the 4th quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,980 shares of the company's stock worth $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.85% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 1,500 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.99, for a total value of $866,985.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,454,259.73. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $615.33, for a total value of $615,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 101,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,566,139.07. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,401,120 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Chemed from $667.00 to $674.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Chemed from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Chemed Trading Up 0.2%

CHE traded up $1.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $574.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 79,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,122. Chemed Co. has a twelve month low of $512.12 and a twelve month high of $623.61. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $581.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $565.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.59.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.59 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $646.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.78 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The business's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. Chemed's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.74%.

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.