Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Stock Bumped Down to Hold by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CHEF. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.67.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of CHEF stock opened at $113.00 on Tuesday. Chefs’ Warehouse has a fifty-two week low of $56.46 and a fifty-two week high of $118.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 53.81 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.96.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 16.95%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Chefs’ Warehouse’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 22,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,568. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,752 shares of company stock worth $15,203,174. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 75.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter worth $48,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 98.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 158.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc is a specialty food distributor that supplies professional chefs, restaurants, hotels, culinary institutions, specialty retailers and other foodservice customers. The company focuses on products that are often difficult to source through broadline distributors, including specialty and center-of-the-plate items.

Its product offerings include fresh produce, seafood, meat and poultry, dairy, imported and domestic cheeses, charcuterie, specialty grocery products, dry goods, frozen foods, and culinary supplies.