Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $97.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $83.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 5.24% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.86.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of CHEF opened at $102.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.87 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 12 month low of $53.20 and a 12 month high of $102.43.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 1.87%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $9,750,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,777,334. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total transaction of $356,445.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,668,000 after purchasing an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,744,000 after purchasing an additional 230,985 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,142,000. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Chefs’ Warehouse

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.