First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 70.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 120,786 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,780 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $7,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 229.5% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 30.7% during 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 period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Chefs’ Warehouse this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q2 results: Chefs’ Warehouse reported earnings of $0.78 per share, exceeding the $0.59 analyst consensus, while revenue of $1.17 billion topped expectations of $1.12 billion. Revenue increased 12.9% year over year, supported by higher volumes, customer growth and margin expansion. CHEF Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates on Volume and Margin Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Raised price targets from bullish analysts: Benchmark lifted its target from $106 to $125 and maintained a “buy” rating. BTIG Research also raised its target from $100 to $125 and rated the shares “buy,” indicating continued confidence in the company’s earnings momentum. Chefs’ Warehouse Price Target Raised to $125.00 at Benchmark
• Positive Sentiment: Improved outlook: The fiscal 2026 revenue outlook and quarterly earnings beat helped drive the stock to a new 52-week high, signaling that investors view the company’s growth and operating improvements as durable. The Chefs’ Warehouse Shares Rise After FY26 Revenue Outlook, 2Q Earnings Beat Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst view: Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $97 to $104 but retained an “equal weight” rating. Its target remains below the recent trading level, suggesting the firm sees limited upside after the post-earnings rally. Morgan Stanley Price Target Update

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CHEF. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. 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 report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.43.

Insider Activity

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value of $9,750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total transaction of $356,445.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $115.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.93 and a beta of 1.39. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.20 and a twelve month high of $115.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.58.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 16.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

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.