The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $91.8571.

CHEF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark lifted their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley cut Chefs’ Warehouse from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $97.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,668,000 after acquiring an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,744,000 after acquiring an additional 230,985 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,864,000 after acquiring 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 third quarter worth approximately $7,142,000. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

Shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock opened at $94.86 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.00. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 1-year low of $53.20 and a 1-year high of $102.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70 and a beta of 1.39.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

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.