Wall Street Zen Downgrades Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) to Hold

Key Points

• Chefs' Warehouse has been downgraded from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling potential caution for investors.
• UBS Group has raised its target price for the stock to $72.00, indicating some analysts remain bullish despite the downgrade.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a 8.4% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year and an EPS of $0.52, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CHEF. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $68.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Chefs' Warehouse in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Chefs' Warehouse Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CHEF traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.32. 262,094 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 491,874. Chefs' Warehouse has a 12-month low of $37.72 and a 12-month high of $68.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.98 and a beta of 1.83.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.07. Chefs' Warehouse had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Chefs' Warehouse's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Chefs' Warehouse has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Chefs' Warehouse will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.07, for a total value of $1,138,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 52,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,386,893.50. This represents a 25.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 11.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 9.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,669,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,385,000 after purchasing an additional 223,954 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 2.7% during the second 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. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 6.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,149,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,334,000 after purchasing an additional 70,318 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 867,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,358,000 after purchasing an additional 16,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,866,000. Institutional investors own 91.55% of the company's stock.

About Chefs' Warehouse

The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. The company's product portfolio includes specialty food products, such as artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate, and pastry products; and center-of-the-plate products consisting of custom cut beef, seafood, and hormone-free poultry, as well as broadline food products comprising cooking oils, butter, eggs, milk, and flour.