Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) Short Interest Up 11.1% in June

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) saw a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 312,100 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the June 15th total of 280,900 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 85,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.17, for a total transaction of $816,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,252,854.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.17, for a total value of $816,255.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,049 shares in the company, valued at $58,252,854.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick P. Grace sold 284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.98, for a total transaction of $153,638.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,769,004.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,784 shares of company stock valued at $3,240,053 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chemed

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CHE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Chemed in the 4th quarter worth $92,359,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Chemed by 164.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 205,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,328,000 after purchasing an additional 127,934 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Chemed by 121.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 203,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,760,000 after purchasing an additional 111,399 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Chemed in the 4th quarter worth $430,970,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Chemed by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 152,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,977,000 after purchasing an additional 70,001 shares in the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHE has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Chemed from $712.00 to $697.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st.

Chemed Stock Performance

Shares of Chemed stock traded up $3.34 on Wednesday, hitting $549.48. 106,606 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 83,585. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $546.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $584.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.43. Chemed has a 1 year low of $492.84 and a 1 year high of $654.62.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last issued 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). The business 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, analysts expect that Chemed will post 21.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Chemed’s payout ratio is 8.61%.

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.