Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Up 0.9%

CHEF opened at $96.10 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 53.39 and a beta of 1.44. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $97.63.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last announced its earnings results 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. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 1.87%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs’ Warehouse

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $9,750,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,777,334. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 318,942 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,010,000 after acquiring an additional 58,154 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,129,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,864,000 after acquiring an additional 55,850 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,428,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,019,000 after acquiring an additional 44,323 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,383,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.