The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF Shares Sold by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP reduced its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,594 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,035 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $1,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the 1st quarter valued at $352,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 6.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 50.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 130,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,101,000 after acquiring an additional 43,593 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 54.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of CHEF stock opened at $63.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.32 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $64.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.41. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.00 and a twelve month high of $73.94.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHEF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 95,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.53, for a total transaction of $5,997,127.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,398,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,979,580.66. This represents a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Tim Mccauley sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $525,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 44,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,340. The trade was a 14.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 139,309 shares of company stock worth $9,060,197 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile

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.