The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.4286.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHEF opened at $110.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.67 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 12-month low of $53.20 and a 12-month high of $117.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.56.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 2.09%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chefs’ Warehouse

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total value of $11,011,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,105,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,834,402.80. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $308,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,014 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,568. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,752 shares of company stock valued at $15,203,174. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 18,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

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.