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Forensic Analysis · Healthcare Providers & Services · as of Nov 9, 2026

Chemed Corp (CHE)

A forensic read on Chemed Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.

B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
9.7
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
1
Forensic signals
25.3%
ROE
4.1%
Revenue growth

This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.

Chemed Corp earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 9.7, placing it in the Safe zone. 1 forensic signal was flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.

What the filings flag

143% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns. Returned $463M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 143% of free cash flow. That is $139M (43%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash fell $104M over FY2025 — $104M of the $139M. The FY2025 cash-flow statement filed $27M from shares issued; $5M from sales of property and equipment; net cash used in investing activities of $59M; net cash used in financing activities of $433M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $39M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 155%.

Key fundamentals

Latest Revenue$2.53B
Revenue Growth YoY+4.1%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+5.7%
Net Margin10.5%
Free Cash Flow$324.4M
Return on Equity25.3%

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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Nov 9, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.

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