Granahan Investment Management LLC Buys 45,776 Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 66.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,599 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,776 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned about 0.28% of Chefs’ Warehouse worth $6,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the third quarter worth about $7,142,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,010,000 after acquiring an additional 58,154 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 264,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,538,000 after acquiring an additional 34,011 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 207,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after acquiring an additional 33,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 173,155 shares during the period. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $97.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the business’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 owned 24,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. The trade was a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHEF opened at $94.86 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 stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 52.70 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $89.30 and its 200 day moving average is $74.00. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $102.87.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

About Chefs’ Warehouse

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.