Chefs’ Warehouse (CHEF) and The Competition Head to Head Comparison

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) is one of 149 public companies in the “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Chefs’ Warehouse to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Chefs’ Warehouse and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chefs’ Warehouse	$4.51 billion	$72.36 million	44.54
Chefs’ Warehouse Competitors	$34.77 billion	$846.26 million	17.21

Chefs’ Warehouse’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Chefs’ Warehouse. Chefs’ Warehouse is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Chefs’ Warehouse and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chefs’ Warehouse	0	2	5	0	2.71
Chefs’ Warehouse Competitors	2243	8275	10063	459	2.42

Chefs’ Warehouse currently has a consensus target price of $120.17, suggesting a potential upside of 15.80%. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies have a potential upside of 59.15%. Given Chefs’ Warehouse’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Chefs’ Warehouse has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Risk and Volatility

Chefs’ Warehouse has a beta of 1.47, meaning that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chefs’ Warehouse’s competitors have a beta of 0.44, meaning that their average stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Chefs’ Warehouse and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chefs’ Warehouse	2.27%	17.48%	5.48%
Chefs’ Warehouse Competitors	-25.86%	3.88%	2.96%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

91.6% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.0% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.7% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Chefs’ Warehouse beats its competitors on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. The company’s product portfolio includes specialty food products, such as artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate, and pastry products; and center-of-the-plate products consisting of custom cut beef, seafood, and hormone-free poultry, as well as broadline food products comprising cooking oils, butter, eggs, milk, and flour. The company serves menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolatiers, cruise lines, casinos, and specialty food stores. It markets its center-of-the-plate products directly to consumers through a mail and e-commerce platform. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Ridgefield, Connecticut.