Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CHEF. Weiss Ratings cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $90.75 on Friday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 50.42 and a beta of 1.44. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $92.10.

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

Insider Activity

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,777,334. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,892.82. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 98.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter worth approximately $546,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 27.2% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,640,000 after acquiring an additional 9,490 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 23.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 332,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,759,000 after acquiring an additional 64,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter worth approximately $275,000. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.