Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $97.04 and last traded at $96.5140, with a volume of 8980 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $95.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CHEF shares. 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 research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 52.32 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $78.22 and its 200 day moving average is $68.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value of $9,750,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,656,000 after buying an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,668,000 after buying an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,744,000 after buying an additional 230,985 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,864,000 after acquiring an additional 173,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently 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.