The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.8750.

CHEF has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Friday, December 12th.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of CHEF stock opened at $61.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 1.28. Chefs’ Warehouse has a fifty-two week low of $45.00 and a fifty-two week high of $68.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.07. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $986.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, CFO James Leddy sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total transaction of $1,366,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 125,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,819,152.12. This represents a 14.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 515.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 30.7% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the third quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

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.