Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Upgraded to “Buy” 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 note released on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group dropped 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.86.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

CHEF opened at $97.08 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.88 and its 200-day moving average is $72.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 53.93 and a beta of 1.39. Chefs’ Warehouse has a twelve month low of $53.20 and a twelve month high of $102.87.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value 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 approximately $170,777,334. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 11.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CHEF. 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 increased its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,668,000 after acquiring an additional 242,917 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% during 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 lifted 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 valued at $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the third quarter worth about $7,142,000. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.