Welch & Forbes LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 21.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,255 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,150 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned 0.16% of Chefs’ Warehouse worth $3,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 3,676.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 11,029 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 266.6% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 30,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 21,991 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 17,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 273,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,244,000 after acquiring an additional 47,243 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the first quarter worth about $957,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on CHEF. Zacks Research downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.57.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHEF opened at $95.79 on Monday. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.20 and a 12 month high of $99.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.70. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.22 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.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total value of $356,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $9,750,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,777,334. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 11.10% 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.