Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in The Chefs' Warehouse, buying 16,100 shares worth about $957,000 in the first quarter.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed but constructive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus, with a target price of $83.83, though some analysts recently downgraded their ratings.
• Chefs' Warehouse reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates with $0.40 EPS on $1.06 billion in sales, while insiders including the CEO also sold shares during the period.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHEF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 229.5% during 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 period. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Chefs' Warehouse by 30.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Chefs' Warehouse during the third quarter worth about $57,000. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CHEF. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Chefs' Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Chefs' Warehouse from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Chefs' Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Chefs' Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Chefs' Warehouse from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs' Warehouse

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total value of $356,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,892.82. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $9,750,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,777,334. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Chefs' Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $95.62 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $83.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.56. The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $97.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.12 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs' Warehouse had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

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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