Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires Shares of 90,237 The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF)

Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 90,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,978,000. Advisors Preferred LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Chefs' Warehouse as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Chefs' Warehouse by 5.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 192,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,498,000 after purchasing an additional 9,142 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the fourth quarter valued at $2,849,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Chefs' Warehouse by 27.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Chefs' Warehouse in the first quarter valued at $289,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 5.4% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,013 shares of the company's stock worth $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHEF has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Chefs' Warehouse from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Chefs' Warehouse in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $67.40.

Chefs' Warehouse Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CHEF traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.23. 323,385 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,685. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21 and a beta of 1.74. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $63.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.05. The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.59 and a fifty-two week high of $68.28.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $950.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $927.34 million. Chefs' Warehouse had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 1.65%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 17,500 shares of Chefs' Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.07, for a total transaction of $1,138,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 52,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,386,893.50. This trade represents a 25.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.90% 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.