Chefs’ Warehouse’s (CHEF) Buy Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at BTIG Research in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $74.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.83% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CHEF. Zacks Research raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.67.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock opened at $66.17 on Wednesday. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 1 year low of $51.53 and a 1 year high of $73.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.10 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.00.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.74% and a return on equity of 14.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $525,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 44,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,340. The trade was a 14.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 29,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $2,100,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 72,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,129,050.74. This represents a 29.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,309 shares of company stock worth $9,060,197. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CHEF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 229.5% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 515.3% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 30.7% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.