BTIG Research Issues Positive Forecast for Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Stock Price

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) had its target price hoisted by BTIG Research from $82.00 to $100.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. BTIG Research’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.27% from the company’s previous close.

CHEF has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group lowered 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 note on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $85.27 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.56. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $85.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.37 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $170,777,334. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 229.5% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 515.3% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 30.7% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. 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.