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

Key Points

• Chefs' Warehouse has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from seven research firms, with a consensus 12-month price target of about $80.83.
• Recent analyst updates were mixed: UBS trimmed its target to $80 but kept a buy rating, while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to buy and Weiss Ratings downgraded it to hold.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.40 versus the $0.23 estimate and revenue of $1.06 billion, up 11.4% year over year.

The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.8333.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CHEF. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chefs' Warehouse from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Chefs' Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Chefs' Warehouse from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chefs' Warehouse

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,656,000 after purchasing an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 2,871.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,668,000 after purchasing an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 117,849.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,744,000 after purchasing an additional 230,985 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Chefs' Warehouse by 230.8% in the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.55% of the company's stock.

Chefs' Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of CHEF opened at $77.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 43.08 and a beta of 1.44. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $70.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.18. Chefs' Warehouse has a twelve month low of $53.20 and a twelve month high of $82.81.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Chefs' Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Chefs' Warehouse 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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