Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Upgraded at TD Cowen

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at TD Cowen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Chefs’ Warehouse currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.57.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $98.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 1-year low of $53.20 and a 1-year high of $99.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 54.56 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, valued at $170,777,334. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total transaction of $356,445.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,010,000 after purchasing an additional 58,154 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,129,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,864,000 after purchasing an additional 55,850 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,428,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,019,000 after purchasing an additional 44,323 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,383,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during 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.