Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 11,865 Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 45.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,865 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,656,000 after purchasing an additional 318,942 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,010,000 after purchasing an additional 58,154 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,129,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,864,000 after buying an additional 55,850 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,428,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,019,000 after buying an additional 44,323 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,383,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,263,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHEF has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.83.

Insider Activity at Chefs’ Warehouse

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total transaction of $356,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, valued at $170,777,334. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $96.10 on Wednesday. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.20 and a 52-week high of $97.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.39 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.18.

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

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.