Benchmark Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Stock

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) had its target price lifted by Benchmark from $79.00 to $84.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective points to a potential upside of 33.55% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CHEF. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

Shares of CHEF opened at $62.90 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.91. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $68.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00 and a beta of 1.28. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.36 million. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs’ Warehouse

In related news, CFO James Leddy sold 22,000 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $1,366,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 125,892 shares in the company, valued at $7,819,152.12. This trade represents a 14.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter valued at $736,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings 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 worth $54,344,000 after purchasing an additional 58,046 shares in the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,431,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter worth approximately $11,805,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 362.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 429,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,382,000 after purchasing an additional 336,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.