Brokerages Set The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Price Target at $77.67

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.6667.

CHEF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 target price on Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th.

Insider Transactions at Chefs’ Warehouse

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 3,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.45, for a total transaction of $217,097.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,972,728.45. This represents a 9.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $525,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 44,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,340. The trade was a 14.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 139,309 shares of company stock valued at $9,060,197 in the last three months. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 58,046 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter worth $736,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 17.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 141,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,253,000 after purchasing an additional 20,785 shares in the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,431,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 69,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,410,000 after buying an additional 28,253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $59.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.30. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 1-year low of $45.00 and a 1-year high of $73.94.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.74% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.