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

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) is one of 69 public companies in the “FOOD – MISC/DIVERSIFIED” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Chefs’ Warehouse to related companies based on the strength of its risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.6% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.4% of shares of all “FOOD – MISC/DIVERSIFIED” companies are owned by institutional investors. 11.5% of Chefs’ Warehouse shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.0% of shares of all “FOOD – MISC/DIVERSIFIED” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Chefs’ Warehouse and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chefs’ Warehouse	0	0	6	0	3.00
Chefs’ Warehouse Competitors	710	3417	3727	153	2.42

Chefs’ Warehouse presently has a consensus target price of $67.40, indicating a potential upside of 2.64%. As a group, “FOOD – MISC/DIVERSIFIED” companies have a potential upside of 20.25%. Given Chefs’ Warehouse’s rivals higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Chefs’ Warehouse has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chefs’ Warehouse	1.65%	13.15%	3.70%
Chefs’ Warehouse Competitors	-3.76%	-16.96%	1.87%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Chefs’ Warehouse and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chefs’ Warehouse	$3.79 billion	$55.48 million	43.49
Chefs’ Warehouse Competitors	$8.09 billion	$399.01 million	24.19

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

Volatility & Risk

Chefs’ Warehouse has a beta of 1.74, indicating that its stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chefs’ Warehouse’s rivals have a beta of 0.83, indicating that their average stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Chefs’ Warehouse beats its rivals 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.