The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.6667.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CHEF. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 target price on Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of CHEF stock opened at $60.46 on Friday. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 1-year low of $45.00 and a 1-year high of $73.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.06. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.74% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs’ Warehouse

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 29,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $2,100,990.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 72,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,129,050.74. This represents a 29.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $525,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 44,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,340. This represents a 14.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,309 shares of company stock worth $9,060,197. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 931,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,344,000 after purchasing an additional 58,046 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the 3rd quarter valued at $736,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter worth $7,431,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 17.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 141,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,253,000 after purchasing an additional 20,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 69.1% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 69,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 28,253 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

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.