Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Key Points

• Cookson Peirce & Co. purchased a new 14,619-share stake in Chefs' Warehouse during the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.4 million. Other major investors also increased or initiated positions, with institutions owning 91.55% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with the stock receiving an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $114.33; Benchmark and UBS recently raised their targets to $125.
• Chefs' Warehouse exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.78 EPS versus a $0.59 estimate and $1.17 billion in revenue, up 12.9% year over year. However, insiders sold $15.2 million of shares over the past three months.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 14,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,405,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CHEF. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse during the second quarter worth about $37,619,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Chefs' Warehouse by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Chefs' Warehouse during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,010,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Chefs' Warehouse by 2,871.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,668,000 after purchasing an additional 242,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Chefs' Warehouse by 117,849.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company's stock worth $13,744,000 after purchasing an additional 230,985 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CHEF shares. Benchmark increased their price objective on Chefs' Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. 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 report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $114.33.

Chefs' Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $115.00 on Monday. The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.20 and a 1 year high of $117.33. The company has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 54.76 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $102.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business posted $0.52 EPS. Chefs' Warehouse's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs' Warehouse

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 22,014 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,568. The trade was a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.97, for a total value of $3,883,950.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 34,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,822,028.74. The trade was a 50.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 137,752 shares of company stock valued at $15,203,174 in the last three months. Company 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.

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