Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $99.47 and last traded at $97.2070, with a volume of 27813 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $94.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHEF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.57.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.16 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.79.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,668,000 after acquiring an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,744,000 after acquiring an additional 230,985 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,864,000 after acquiring an additional 173,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% in the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

About Chefs’ Warehouse

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.