Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 29,445 Shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 146,017 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,445 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.97% of Chemed worth $87,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CHE. ING Groep NV grew its position in Chemed by 129.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 3,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Chemed by 11.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 378 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Chemed by 0.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 13,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,979,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Chemed by 14.8% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 33,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. lifted its stake in Chemed by 7.2% in the third quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 508 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Chemed Stock Performance

Shares of Chemed stock traded down $2.58 on Monday, reaching $554.87. The stock had a trading volume of 95,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 85,916. The business's 50-day moving average price is $580.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.38. Chemed Co. has a fifty-two week low of $523.33 and a fifty-two week high of $654.62. The stock has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.46.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $606.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.22 million. Chemed had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 27.86%. Chemed's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Chemed's payout ratio is currently 10.11%.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In other Chemed news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $598.81, for a total transaction of $1,197,620.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,735 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62,117,555.35. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 1,713 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,478,159.15. The trade was a 21.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,313 shares of company stock worth $2,527,495 in the last ninety days. 3.32% of the stock is currently 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.