Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Position in Chemed Corporation $CHE

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in shares of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) by 14.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,362 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,235 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.26% of Chemed worth $22,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Chemed by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 950 shares of the company's stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chemed during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Chemed during the 1st quarter worth $2,777,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Chemed by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 161 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its stake in Chemed by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,572 shares of the company's stock worth $2,198,000 after buying an additional 1,486 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CHE. Jefferies Financial Group raised Chemed from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $490.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Bank of America cut their target price on Chemed from $610.00 to $595.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Chemed from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Chemed from $640.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Chemed from $650.00 to $580.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $578.50.

Chemed Price Performance

NYSE:CHE traded down $11.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $446.00. 160,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 167,896. The business has a 50 day moving average of $451.83 and a 200 day moving average of $531.04. Chemed Corporation has a 1-year low of $408.42 and a 1-year high of $623.60. The company has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.46.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 25.83%. The firm had revenue of $618.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $650.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Chemed has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.000-22.300 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Chemed Corporation will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Chemed's payout ratio is presently 12.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director George J. Walsh III purchased 200 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $417.10 per share, for a total transaction of $83,420.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,469,443.30. This trade represents a 6.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 currently owned by insiders.

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.