Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

CHEF has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.86.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $97.08 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 53.93 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.94.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. Chefs’ Warehouse’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the first quarter valued at about $352,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 130,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,101,000 after acquiring an additional 43,593 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse during the 1st quarter worth approximately $98,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

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.