Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%.

Chemed has raised its dividend by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Chemed has a payout ratio of 7.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CHE opened at $553.10 on Friday. Chemed has a 52-week low of $512.12 and a 52-week high of $654.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $542.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $564.69. The firm has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.48.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In related news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.62, for a total value of $421,353.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,526,362.94. This represents a 3.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian C. Judkins acquired 145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $519.50 per share, with a total value of $75,327.50. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 1,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $871,721. This represents a 9.46 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CHE. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Chemed from $697.00 to $633.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 30th.

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.