Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires Shares of 9,610 The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 9,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 valued at $182,656,000 after purchasing an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 worth $68,864,000 after acquiring an additional 173,155 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,142,000. 91.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CHEF opened at $95.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.33. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.20 and a 52-week high of $97.63. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.12 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHEF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value of $9,750,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,777,334. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 24,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 11.10% 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.