Analysts Set The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) Price Target at $115.67

Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.6667.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 2,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $308,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,014 shares in the company, valued at $2,465,568. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total value of $11,011,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,105,480 shares in the company, valued at $231,834,402.80. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,752 shares of company stock worth $15,203,174. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,619,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,010,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 117,849.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,116,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter valued at approximately $18,705,000. 91.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $110.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.79 and a beta of 1.38. Chefs’ Warehouse has a fifty-two week low of $53.20 and a fifty-two week high of $117.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.15.

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

Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile

Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc is a specialty food distributor serving professional chefs, restaurants, hotels, culinary institutions and other foodservice customers. The company provides a broad selection of specialty and center-of-the-plate products, including fresh produce, seafood, meat, poultry, dairy, imported foods, dry goods, frozen items and other culinary ingredients.

In addition to food products, Chefs’ Warehouse offers related supplies and services designed to support commercial kitchens and foodservice operations.