Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Given New $131.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen raised Chefs' Warehouse’s price target to $131 from $123 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying 19.34% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: the stock has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $115.67, with Benchmark and UBS also recently lifting their targets to $125.
• Chefs' Warehouse beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.78 in EPS versus $0.59 expected and $1.17 billion in revenue, up 12.9% year over year; however, insiders sold $15.2 million of stock over the past three months.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $123.00 to $131.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.34% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on CHEF. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Chefs' Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chefs' Warehouse currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.67.

Chefs' Warehouse Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $109.77 on Friday. Chefs' Warehouse has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $117.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.27 and a beta of 1.38.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 2.09%.The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chefs' Warehouse will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $308,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total transaction of $11,011,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,105,480 shares in the company, valued at $231,834,402.80. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 137,752 shares of company stock valued at $15,203,174. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CHEF. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs' Warehouse in the first quarter valued at about $352,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,152 shares of the company's stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 130,382 shares of the company's stock worth $7,101,000 after buying an additional 43,593 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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