Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Trading Up 4.4% – Still a Buy?

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) shares were up 4.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $80.59 and last traded at $80.95. Approximately 106,259 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 456,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CHEF shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Up 4.1%

The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.86 and a beta of 1.44.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs’ Warehouse

In other news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, valued at $170,777,334. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total transaction of $356,445.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,892.82. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,656,000 after purchasing an additional 318,942 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,668,000 after purchasing an additional 242,917 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,744,000 after purchasing an additional 230,985 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.