Wasatch Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Key Points

• Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in The Chefs' Warehouse by 20.9% in the first quarter, ending with 273,246 shares valued at about $16.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added positions, and hedge funds now own a large majority of the stock, with institutional ownership at 91.55%.
• Chefs' Warehouse reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $83.83.

Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 273,246 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,243 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 0.67% of Chefs' Warehouse worth $16,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Chefs' Warehouse during the first quarter worth $957,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the first quarter valued at $571,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 111.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,381 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 4th quarter worth about $517,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 4th quarter worth about $251,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CHEF. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Chefs' Warehouse in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Benchmark upped their target price on Chefs' Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company 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 report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Chefs' Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chefs' Warehouse presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.83.

Chefs' Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of CHEF stock opened at $95.64 on Friday. The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.20 and a twelve month high of $97.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.13 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.31. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chefs' Warehouse Company 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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