William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires New Shares in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 194,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,705,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.48% of Chefs’ Warehouse at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHEF. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total transaction of $11,011,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,105,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,834,402.80. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $308,224.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,568. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,752 shares of company stock worth $15,203,174. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

Shares of CHEF opened at $110.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.67 and a beta of 1.39. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.20 and a 12 month high of $117.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 16.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CHEF shares. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.43.

Chefs’ Warehouse 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.