Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 292.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,241 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 925 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Chemed were worth $673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CHE. Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 14.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 10.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 3.4% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chemed Stock Performance

CHE traded down $6.99 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $568.74. The stock had a trading volume of 107,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 88,664. The company has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.43. Chemed Co. has a twelve month low of $492.84 and a twelve month high of $654.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $545.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $582.49.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $5.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.59 by ($0.12). Chemed had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 29.21%. The firm had revenue of $595.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $599.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. Chemed’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Chemed Co. will post 21.77 EPS for the current year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Chemed’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total transaction of $2,270,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Chemed news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total value of $2,270,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 108,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,605,899.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,049 shares in the company, valued at $58,252,854.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,784 shares of company stock worth $5,502,473 over the last 90 days. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chemed 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.