Penn Capital Management Company LLC Cuts Stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Penn Capital Management Company LLC decreased its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 230,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,178 shares during the period. Penn Capital Management Company LLC’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $13,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CHEF. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 515.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 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 worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 95,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.53, for a total transaction of $5,997,127.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,398,522 shares in the company, valued at $149,979,580.66. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 3,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total value of $217,097.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,141 shares in the company, valued at $1,972,728.45. This represents a 9.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,309 shares of company stock worth $9,060,197. 11.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

CHEF opened at $62.78 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.47. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.00 and a fifty-two week high of $73.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.05 and a beta of 1.26.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 1.74%.Chefs’ Warehouse’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Chefs’ Warehouse 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.