CHEMED CORPORATION vs NATIONAL HEALTHCARE CORP, two Medical Care stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Margins split these two care providers modestly, 12.9% operating at Chemed against 8.5% at National HealthCare, but the return gap is anything but: Chemed earns 30.6% on equity and 16.9% on assets running hospice and plumbing (Roto-Rooter shares the ticker), NHC 11.3% and 8.1% running skilled nursing. The multiples ignore all of it, 25.3 and 25.5 times earnings, pricing the high-return compounder and the steady operator identically. Free-cash yields nearly match too, 5.6% and 5.3%; NHC pays the bigger dividend, 1.3% against 0.5%, from a debt-free sheet. When prices refuse to distinguish, the returns table is the tiebreaker, and here it is not close.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | CHE | NHC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $462.49 | $200.71 |
| Market cap | $6.3B | $3.2B |
| Sector | Medical Care | Medical Care |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +4.5% | +13.2% |
| P/E | 25.3 | 25.5 |
| P/B | 7.47 | 2.89 |
| P/S | 2.49 | 2.07 |
| EV/EBITDA | 16.3 | 17.6 |
| Revenue growth | +2.1% | +11.0% |
| Operating margin | 12.9% | 8.4% |
| Net margin | 10.2% | 8.1% |
| Return on equity | 30.6% | 11.3% |
| Return on assets | 16.9% | 8.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 26.1% | 9.5% |
| FCF yield | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| Dividend yield | 0.5% | 1.3% |
| Debt / equity | 0.11 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 0.85 | 1.86 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 10.00 | 6.47 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.