Chemed Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:CHE)

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 8th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th.

Chemed has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Chemed has a dividend payout ratio of 8.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Chemed to earn $23.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.6%.

Chemed Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of CHE opened at $558.64 on Friday. Chemed has a 52-week low of $523.33 and a 52-week high of $654.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $580.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.40.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.76 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $606.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.22 million. Chemed had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 27.86%. Chemed’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Chemed will post 21.43 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other Chemed news, Director George J. Walsh III sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $597.47, for a total transaction of $238,988.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,819,893.62. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 1,713 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.35, for a total transaction of $975,296.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,478,159.15. This trade represents a 21.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,313 shares of company stock valued at $2,527,495 over the last ninety days. 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.