First Heartland Consultants Inc. Grows Stake in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 508 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc.’s holdings in Chemed were worth $305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CHE. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Chemed by 34.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 86 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Chemed in the third quarter worth $61,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Chemed by 14.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Chemed by 60.5% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 183 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Chemed by 721.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chemed Price Performance

Chemed stock opened at $565.37 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.46. Chemed Co. has a one year low of $523.33 and a one year high of $654.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $580.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.47.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.76 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $606.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.22 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Chemed’s payout ratio is 10.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.81, for a total value of $1,197,620.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,117,555.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 1,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.35, for a total value of $975,296.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,478,159.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.81, for a total value of $1,197,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,117,555.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,144 shares of company stock valued at $3,002,419 over the last three months. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Chemed from $697.00 to $633.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

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.