Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Benchmark increased their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.86.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $95.58 on Friday. 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 $102.87. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 53.10 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.17.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 approximately $170,777,334. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter worth $7,142,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,010,000 after acquiring an additional 58,154 shares during the period. Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 264,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,538,000 after buying an additional 34,011 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 207,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after acquiring an additional 33,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.