Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.48 Million Stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,744 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,157 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $13,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CHEF. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the third quarter worth $7,142,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,010,000 after purchasing an additional 58,154 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 264,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,538,000 after purchasing an additional 34,011 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 207,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,907,000 after buying an additional 33,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,864,000 after buying an additional 173,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $83.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total value of $356,445.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $9,750,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $94.48 on Friday. 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. The company has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.49 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.01 and its 200 day moving average is $73.85.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Chefs’ Warehouse’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.