Chemed Co. (CHE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on December 6th

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) declared 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 yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th.

Chemed has raised its dividend by an average of 5.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Chemed has a dividend payout ratio of 8.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Trading Down 0.6 %

CHE stock opened at $558.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $580.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $565.40. 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. Chemed has a one year low of $523.33 and a one year high of $654.62.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $606.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.22 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Chemed will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other Chemed news, Director George J. Walsh III sold 200 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.95, for a total value of $115,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,991,615.70. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.81, for a total value of $1,197,620.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 103,735 shares in the company, valued at $62,117,555.35. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,313 shares of company stock worth $2,527,495 in the last ninety days. 3.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.