Chemed (NYSE:CHE) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

CHE has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Chemed from $604.00 to $712.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Chemed from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Chemed Stock Performance

Shares of CHE opened at $560.42 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $623.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $590.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.42. Chemed has a 52 week low of $492.84 and a 52 week high of $654.62.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.09 by ($0.41). Chemed had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 12.36%. The business had revenue of $589.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.18 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chemed will post 21.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chemed news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total transaction of $1,283,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,320,654. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Chemed news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total transaction of $1,283,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,320,654. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Michael D. Witzeman sold 2,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $643.14, for a total transaction of $1,704,321.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,853,529.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,808 shares of company stock valued at $10,184,531. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chemed

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CHE. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chemed during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chemed during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chemed during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Chemed in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Chemed in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 95.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.