Chemed (NYSE:CHE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.41 EPS

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.09 by ($0.41), reports. The firm had revenue of $589.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.18 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 12.36%. Chemed updated its FY24 guidance to $23.30-23.70 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 23.300-23.700 EPS.

Chemed Stock Down 2.3 %

Chemed stock traded down $12.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $560.42. 102,418 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 69,274. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $623.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $590.84. The company has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.42. Chemed has a one year low of $492.84 and a one year high of $654.62.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Chemed’s payout ratio is currently 8.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chemed

In other news, VP Brian C. Judkins sold 11,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.00, for a total value of $7,196,910.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,190. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Brian C. Judkins sold 11,158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.00, for a total value of $7,196,910.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,190. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Michael D. Witzeman sold 2,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $643.14, for a total value of $1,704,321.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,853,529.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,808 shares of company stock valued at $10,184,531 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chemed

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chemed during the first quarter worth $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chemed during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chemed during the third quarter worth $44,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Chemed in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Chemed in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors own 95.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CHE. StockNews.com lowered Chemed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Chemed from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Chemed from $604.00 to $712.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

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.