Chemed Co. (CHE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 on June 18th

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share on Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th.

Chemed has increased its dividend by an average of 5.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Chemed has a dividend payout ratio of 6.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Chemed to earn $23.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.7%.

Chemed Price Performance

Shares of CHE opened at $559.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $606.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $595.76. Chemed has a 1 year low of $492.84 and a 1 year high of $654.62. The firm has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.46.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.09 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $589.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.18 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 12.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chemed will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CHE. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Chemed from $712.00 to $697.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Chemed from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In related news, VP Brian C. Judkins sold 11,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 1,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,190. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Chemed news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total value of $1,283,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,320,654. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian C. Judkins sold 11,158 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $917,190. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $12,454,691 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.32% 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.