Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 266.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,240 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,991 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.07% of Chefs’ Warehouse worth $1,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,010,000 after acquiring an additional 58,154 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,129,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,864,000 after purchasing an additional 55,850 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,428,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,019,000 after purchasing an additional 44,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,383,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total value of $356,445.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,892.82. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHEF opened at $94.86 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70 and a beta of 1.39. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $102.87. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. Chefs’ Warehouse’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on CHEF shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.86.

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.