Summit Creek Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Key Points

• Summit Creek Advisors increased its stake in The Chefs' Warehouse by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 177,976 shares valued at about $11.1 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $80.83, though Weiss Ratings recently downgraded it to hold.
• Chefs' Warehouse reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.40 versus $0.23 expected and revenue of $1.06 billion, while insiders including the CEO have recently sold shares.

Summit Creek Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Free Report) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 177,976 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 50,588 shares during the quarter. Chefs' Warehouse accounts for approximately 1.7% of Summit Creek Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Summit Creek Advisors LLC owned 0.44% of Chefs' Warehouse worth $11,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 515.3% in 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 period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Chefs' Warehouse from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Chefs' Warehouse from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Chefs' Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $84.00 target price on Chefs' Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chefs' Warehouse news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of Chefs' Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total transaction of $356,445.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 24,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,951,892.82. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of Chefs' Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 261,309 shares of company stock valued at $18,641,642 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Chefs' Warehouse Price Performance

CHEF stock opened at $77.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.97 and a beta of 1.47. The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.20 and a fifty-two week high of $82.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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