Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) CEO Christopher Pappas Sells 95,908 Shares

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) CEO Christopher Pappas sold 95,908 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.53, for a total value of $5,997,127.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,398,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,979,580.66. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 5.2%

CHEF opened at $62.43 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.00 and a 12 month high of $73.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.84 and a beta of 1.26.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.06. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 14.75% and a net margin of 1.74%.The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHEF. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 931,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,344,000 after acquiring an additional 58,046 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the 3rd quarter valued at $736,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,431,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 69,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,410,000 after buying an additional 28,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CHEF shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wolfe Research set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.67.

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.