The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $28.01 Million in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 291,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,010,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CHEF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 8.4% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 172,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,228,000 after buying an additional 13,318 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,010,000 after buying an additional 58,154 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter worth about $37,619,000. Argent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter worth about $546,000. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,781,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Down 0.7%

CHEF opened at $111.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $102.39 and its 200 day moving average is $81.90. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.20 and a fifty-two week high of $117.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.98 and a beta of 1.39.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 16.95%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $308,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,568. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total value of $11,011,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,105,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,834,402.80. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 137,752 shares of company stock valued at $15,203,174 in the last 90 days. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CHEF shares. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $114.33.

Chefs’ Warehouse 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.