The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF Shares Sold by WCM Investment Management LLC

WCM Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 335,478 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,398 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $19,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 valued at $182,656,000 after purchasing an additional 318,942 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,668,000 after buying an additional 242,917 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,744,000 after buying an additional 230,985 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,864,000 after buying an additional 173,155 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter valued at about $7,142,000. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHEF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $83.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock opened at $97.08 on Monday. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.20 and a 1 year high of $102.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.93 and a beta of 1.39.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal 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.