Crawford Fund Management LLC Purchases Shares of 7,150 Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Crawford Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,297,000. Chemed accounts for about 0.9% of Crawford Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 2.7% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 475,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,927,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 4.7% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 332,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,977,000 after purchasing an additional 14,814 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 10.9% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 282,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,416,000 after purchasing an additional 27,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chemed by 23.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 238,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,401,000 after purchasing an additional 45,917 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chemed Stock Performance

CHE opened at $571.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $578.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.02. Chemed Co. has a one year low of $523.33 and a one year high of $654.62.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.76 by ($0.12). Chemed had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The business had revenue of $606.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Chemed from $697.00 to $633.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Chemed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chemed news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.81, for a total transaction of $1,197,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,735 shares in the company, valued at $62,117,555.35. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $975,296.55. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,113 shares of company stock valued at $3,557,445 over the last quarter. 3.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chemed 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.