Chemed price target lowered to $500 from $580 at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn lowered the firm’s price target on Chemed (CHE) to $500 from $580 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm notes Chemed reported a Q4 miss, with one-third due to Vitas and two-thirds due to Roto-Rooter. However, Vitas has already created cap buffer in Florida, and is currently working through the related mix-pressures. While Oppenheimer sees long-term value creation opportunity in the consolidated portfolio following this earnings/outlook/pullback, but argues that, if necessary, there is an opportunity to unlock value by breaking up the company.