The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Receives $77.67 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.6667.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 target price on Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Wednesday, April 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $525,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 44,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,340. This trade represents a 14.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 95,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.53, for a total value of $5,997,127.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,398,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,979,580.66. This trade represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 139,309 shares of company stock valued at $9,060,197 in the last three months. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in 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 valued at $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% in the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,431,000. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of CHEF stock opened at $65.56 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73 and a beta of 1.34. Chefs’ Warehouse has a fifty-two week low of $51.95 and a fifty-two week high of $73.94.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 1.74%.The company’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

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.