Chemed (NYSE:CHE) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Chemed (NYSE:CHE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $550.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $490.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CHE. 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 lowered their price objective on Chemed from $640.00 to $589.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Chemed from $708.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Chemed from $650.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $592.25.

Chemed Stock Performance

Chemed stock opened at $465.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $459.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $536.02. The company has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. Chemed has a fifty-two week low of $408.42 and a fifty-two week high of $623.60.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) 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). The business had revenue of $618.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.60 million. Chemed had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 25.83%. Chemed’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.47 EPS. Chemed has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.000-22.300 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Chemed will post 21.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.34%.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In other Chemed news, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 10,012 shares of the business’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director George J. Walsh III acquired 200 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $417.10 per share, for a total transaction of $83,420.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,469,443.30. This 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Chemed during the second quarter worth about $89,388,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chemed by 131,200.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 166,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,606,000 after purchasing an additional 166,625 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chemed by 160.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 201,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,893,000 after purchasing an additional 123,982 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Chemed during the fourth quarter worth about $54,587,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chemed by 69.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 250,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,056,000 after acquiring an additional 102,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.85% of the company’s stock.

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.