Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Chefs’ Warehouse shares opened sharply lower, falling from a prior close of $108.99 to $102.34 before recovering to around $108.28.
• Wall Street remains generally positive: five analysts rate the stock a Buy and two rate it a Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $118.33.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.66 in EPS versus $0.59 expected and $1.14 billion in revenue, up 11.2% year over year; however, insiders sold 137,752 shares worth about $15.2 million over the last quarter.

The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $108.99, but opened at $102.34. Chefs' Warehouse shares last traded at $108.2840, with a volume of 294,133 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHEF has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Chefs' Warehouse from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Chefs' Warehouse from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.33.

Chefs' Warehouse Stock Down 0.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 51.47 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $110.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.15.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.07. Chefs' Warehouse had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 2.09%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chefs' Warehouse

In other news, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.97, for a total transaction of $3,883,950.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 34,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,822,028.74. This represents a 50.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $308,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 22,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,465,568. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,752 shares of company stock worth $15,203,174. Insiders own 11.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Chefs' Warehouse during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 75.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 98.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Chefs' Warehouse

Chefs' Warehouse, Inc is a specialty food distributor serving professional chefs, restaurants, hotels, caterers, culinary institutions and other foodservice customers. The company supplies a broad range of products, including fresh produce, seafood, meat, poultry, dairy, specialty and imported foods, center-of-the-plate items, dry goods, and other ingredients used in commercial kitchens.

Founded in 1985, Chefs' Warehouse has expanded from a regional distributor into a North American foodservice platform.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.