Entropy Technologies LP Acquires 5,979 Shares of Chemed Corporation $CHE

Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) by 491.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,195 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,979 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Chemed were worth $2,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Chemed by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Cim LLC raised its holdings in Chemed by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cim LLC now owns 2,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Eukles Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Chemed by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 6,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,591,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Chemed by 4.0% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 940 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Chemed by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Chemed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Chemed from $422.00 to $436.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chemed from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Chemed from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Chemed from $450.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $480.25.

Insider Activity

In other Chemed news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $421.13, for a total value of $842,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,219 shares in the company, valued at $37,993,927.47. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Andrea R. Lindell sold 1,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.33, for a total value of $602,553.51. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,047,876.74. The trade was a 22.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Chemed Stock Performance

NYSE CHE opened at $510.28 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $458.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $433.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Chemed Corporation has a 1 year low of $365.20 and a 1 year high of $517.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.52.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.30 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $657.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $659.22 million. Chemed had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 27.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Chemed Corporation will post 22.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.08%.

About Chemed

Chemed Corporation is a diversified provider of essential home services and healthcare solutions in the United States. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company operates through two principal business segments—Roto-Rooter and Vitas Healthcare. Since its founding in 1974, Chemed has built a reputation for reliability and expertise, serving both residential and commercial customers across a broad range of markets.

The Roto-Rooter segment offers a comprehensive suite of plumbing, drain cleaning and water restoration services.