Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $82.87 and last traded at $82.9660, with a volume of 167298 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHEF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark upped their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.19. 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 $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 46.12 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Chefs’ Warehouse

In other news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total value of $356,445.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 24,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. This represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 98.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 1st quarter valued at $546,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 27.2% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,640,000 after purchasing an additional 9,490 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 332,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,759,000 after purchasing an additional 64,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 1st quarter valued at $275,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

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.