First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in Chemed Corporation $CHE

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) by 24.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,392 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,791 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Chemed were worth $89,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Chemed by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC lifted its stake in Chemed by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cim LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Eukles Asset Management lifted its stake in Chemed by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 6,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Chemed by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 940 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Chemed by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In other Chemed news, Director Andrea R. Lindell sold 1,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.33, for a total value of $602,553.51. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,047,876.74. The trade was a 22.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $421.13, for a total transaction of $842,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,993,927.47. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Chemed from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Chemed from $450.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Chemed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chemed from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Chemed from $422.00 to $436.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $480.25.

Chemed Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Chemed stock opened at $510.28 on Friday. Chemed Corporation has a 1 year low of $365.20 and a 1 year high of $517.74. The firm has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $458.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $433.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.30 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $657.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $659.22 million. Chemed had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 27.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Chemed Corporation will post 22.67 EPS for the current year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Chemed’s payout ratio is currently 13.08%.

About Chemed

Chemed Corporation is a diversified provider of essential home services and healthcare solutions in the United States. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company operates through two principal business segments—Roto-Rooter and Vitas Healthcare. Since its founding in 1974, Chemed has built a reputation for reliability and expertise, serving both residential and commercial customers across a broad range of markets.

The Roto-Rooter segment offers a comprehensive suite of plumbing, drain cleaning and water restoration services.