Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $82.87 and last traded at $82.9660, with a volume of 167298 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $80.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CHEF. Wall Street Zen raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 2.6%

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 firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.12 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.19.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CHEF. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 231,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,744,000 after purchasing an additional 230,985 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings 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 valued at $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% in the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

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.