The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF Shares Sold by Wasatch Advisors LP

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 53.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 127,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145,295 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $12,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CHEF. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 1st quarter valued at about $275,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 98.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter worth about $546,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 27.2% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,640,000 after purchasing an additional 9,490 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 23.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 332,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,759,000 after purchasing an additional 64,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHEF has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.43.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $111.07 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $97.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.29. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.20 and a 12 month high of $117.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.89 and a beta of 1.39.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Chefs’ Warehouse

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the 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 owned 24,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

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.