Jones Financial Companies Lllp Acquires New Stake in Chemed Corporation $CHE

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp invested $2.53 million in Chemed Corporation (NYSE: CHE), acquiring 4,114 shares in the first quarter.
• Chemed recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.50 to $0.60 per share, with a payout ratio of 12.34%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Chemed, with Jefferies upgrading the stock from "hold" to "buy" and setting a new price target of $550.00.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,531,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHE. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Chemed in the first quarter valued at approximately $891,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Chemed by 22.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chemed in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,059,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Chemed in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,598,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Chemed in the first quarter valued at approximately $859,000. Institutional investors own 95.85% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Chemed from $640.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Chemed from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Chemed from $650.00 to $580.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Chemed from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $490.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Chemed from $610.00 to $595.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chemed has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $578.50.

Chemed Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Chemed stock traded up $5.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $447.32. 153,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 170,937. Chemed Corporation has a twelve month low of $408.42 and a twelve month high of $623.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $451.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $528.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46.

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 last year, the firm earned $5.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Chemed has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.000-22.300 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Chemed Corporation will post 21.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Chemed's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Chemed's payout ratio is presently 12.34%.

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.