Greenhouse Funds LLLP Reduces Holdings in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Greenhouse Funds LLLP lowered its stake in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,568 shares of the company’s stock after selling 617,165 shares during the quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP owned about 0.60% of Chefs’ Warehouse worth $14,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CHEF. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 931,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,344,000 after acquiring an additional 58,046 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter worth about $736,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,431,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 69,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 28,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 141,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,253,000 after purchasing an additional 20,785 shares during the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 3,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $217,097.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,972,728.45. This trade represents a 9.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 95,908 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.53, for a total transaction of $5,997,127.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,398,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,979,580.66. This trade represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,309 shares of company stock worth $9,060,197. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

Shares of CHEF stock opened at $64.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.15 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $73.94.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Chefs’ Warehouse 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.