Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 9,708 Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 38.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,341 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,708 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 8,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,749,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,387,000 after purchasing an additional 9,890 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.9% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 34,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,939 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 19.0% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 524,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,602,000 after purchasing an additional 83,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 37.6% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 173,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,106,000 after purchasing an additional 47,372 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 29,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $2,100,990.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 72,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,129,050.74. This represents a 29.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 3,317 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $217,097.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,141 shares in the company, valued at $1,972,728.45. This trade represents a 9.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 139,309 shares of company stock worth $9,060,197 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CHEF opened at $62.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.12 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.85 and its 200 day moving average is $62.43. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.00 and a fifty-two week high of $73.94.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 1.74%.Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CHEF. Zacks Research cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.67.

Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile

Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc is a specialty food distributor that supplies a broad range of high‐end ingredients and culinary products to professional chefs, restaurants, hotels, and other foodservice operators. Headquartered in Maspeth, New York, the company sources its portfolio from local artisans, boutique producers and leading global suppliers. Its core offerings include fresh and frozen proteins, specialty cuts of meat and seafood, handcrafted cheeses and charcuterie, seasonal produce, value‐added preparations, pantry staples and premium desserts and beverages.

The company operates a network of distribution centers strategically located in major metropolitan markets across North America.