Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Buys 108 Shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,159 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Chemed were worth $17,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHE. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in Chemed by 2.6% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 580,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,868,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chemed by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 475,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Chemed by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 332,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,977,000 after buying an additional 14,814 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Chemed by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 282,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,416,000 after buying an additional 27,800 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Chemed by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 223,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,068,000 after buying an additional 40,358 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CHE. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Chemed from $697.00 to $633.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Chemed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Chemed Price Performance

NYSE CHE opened at $573.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $578.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.99. Chemed Co. has a one year low of $523.33 and a one year high of $654.62. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.46.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last announced 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). Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $606.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.32 EPS. Chemed’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Chemed’s payout ratio is 10.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Chemed news, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 1,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.35, for a total transaction of $975,296.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,478,159.15. This represents a 21.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,735 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 6,113 shares of company stock valued at $3,557,445 over the last three months. 3.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.