291,465 Shares in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF Bought by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 291,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,010,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.71% of Chefs’ Warehouse at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the second quarter valued at about $37,619,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 worth $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 242,917 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 230,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the second quarter valued at approximately $22,116,000. Institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.97, for a total transaction of $3,883,950.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 34,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,822,028.74. This represents a 50.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $308,224.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,014 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,568. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 137,752 shares of company stock worth $15,203,174. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $114.33.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Chefs’ Warehouse stock opened at $111.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.98 and a beta of 1.39. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.20 and a 52-week high of $117.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $102.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.90.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 16.95%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.