The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF Shares Purchased by TimesSquare Capital Management LLC

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its position in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 548,853 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,215 shares during the quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $34,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHEF. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $4,958,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,142,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,384,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 10,741.0% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 92,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 91,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research upped their price objective 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. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs’ Warehouse

In related news, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 29,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $2,100,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 72,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,129,050.74. This represents a 29.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $525,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 44,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,340. This trade represents a 14.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 264,309 shares of company stock worth $18,810,197 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $79.75 on Tuesday. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.20 and a 12 month high of $82.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.59 and a 200-day moving average of $64.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.31 and a beta of 1.47.

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

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.