Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) Plans $0.40 Quarterly Dividend

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share on Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Chemed has a 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

Chemed stock traded down $4.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $559.81. The company had a trading volume of 56,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,556. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $608.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $595.95. The firm has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.46. Chemed has a 12-month low of $492.84 and a 12-month high of $654.62.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.09 by ($0.41). Chemed had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The firm had revenue of $589.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.18 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Chemed will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total value of $2,270,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 108,549 shares in the company, valued at $61,605,899.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total transaction of $2,270,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 108,549 shares in the company, valued at $61,605,899.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total value of $1,283,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,320,654. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $12,454,691 over the last quarter. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Chemed from $712.00 to $697.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Chemed from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

About Chemed

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.