The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a bullish view: Chefs’ Warehouse has a consensus “Buy” rating from seven firms, with five buys, one strong buy and one hold. The average 12-month price target is $115.67.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.78 EPS versus a $0.59 consensus estimate and $1.17 billion in revenue versus $1.12 billion expected. Revenue increased 12.9% year over year.
• CHEF shares opened at $110.45, near their 12-month high of $117.65, while insiders sold 137,752 shares worth approximately $15.2 million over the past 90 days.

The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.6667.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CHEF. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group increased their target price 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Chefs' Warehouse Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $110.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.60 and a beta of 1.38. Chefs' Warehouse has a 12 month low of $53.20 and a 12 month high of $117.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $106.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.24.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Chefs' Warehouse had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 2.09%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Chefs' Warehouse will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total value of $11,011,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $308,224.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,465,568. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 137,752 shares of company stock valued at $15,203,174 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Chefs' Warehouse

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 229.5% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 458 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Chefs' Warehouse by 515.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 523 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Chefs' Warehouse in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Chefs' Warehouse in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Chefs' Warehouse by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company's stock.

About Chefs' Warehouse

Chefs' Warehouse, Inc is a specialty food distributor serving professional chefs, restaurants, hotels, culinary institutions and other foodservice customers. The company provides a broad selection of specialty and center-of-the-plate products, including fresh produce, seafood, meat, poultry, dairy, imported foods, dry goods, frozen items and other culinary ingredients.

In addition to food products, Chefs' Warehouse offers related supplies and services designed to support commercial kitchens and foodservice operations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.