Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 230,985 Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 117,849.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,181 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 230,985 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $13,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,366,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 4.0% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC increased its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 21.0% during the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 64,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after buying an additional 11,150 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 3,676.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 11,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 11,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 266.6% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 30,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after buying an additional 21,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $97.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.88 and a 200-day moving average of $72.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.93 and a beta of 1.39. 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 Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.20 and a twelve month high of $102.87.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. Chefs’ Warehouse’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $356,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 24,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 approximately $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CHEF shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.86.

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.