Zacks Research Downgrades Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) to Strong Sell

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

CHEF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.00.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $64.14 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.93. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 12-month low of $45.00 and a 12-month high of $68.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.73 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $986.36 million. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 1.85%.Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs’ Warehouse

In related news, CFO James Leddy sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $1,366,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 125,892 shares in the company, valued at $7,819,152.12. The trade was a 14.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHEF. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the 1st quarter worth approximately $352,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 6.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 50.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 130,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,101,000 after buying an additional 43,593 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 23,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after buying an additional 4,586 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.