The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Chefs' Warehouse has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from seven covering firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $83.83. Recent reports were mostly bullish, including higher targets from Benchmark and BTIG, plus a rating upgrade from Zacks Research.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including CEO Christopher Pappas and insider Christina Polychroni. Despite that activity, institutional investors still own a large majority of the stock at 91.55%.
• The company posted a strong quarterly beat, reporting $0.40 EPS versus the expected $0.23 and $1.06 billion in revenue, up 11.4% year over year. Shares were recently trading near $95.29, close to their 52-week high of $97.63.

Shares of The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.8333.

Several analysts recently issued reports on CHEF shares. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of 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, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Chefs' Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Insider Activity at Chefs' Warehouse

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

Institutional Trading of Chefs' Warehouse

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 98.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $546,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,406 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,640,000 after buying an additional 9,490 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 332,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,759,000 after buying an additional 64,090 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company's stock.

Chefs' Warehouse Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CHEF opened at $95.29 on Tuesday. Chefs' Warehouse has a 12-month low of $53.20 and a 12-month high of $97.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 52.94 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.67 and a 200 day moving average of $69.63.

Chefs' Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs' Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. Chefs' Warehouse's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Chefs' Warehouse will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Chefs' Warehouse

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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