Wasatch Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Wasatch Advisors LP cut its holdings in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 53.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145,295 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 0.31% of Chefs’ Warehouse worth $12,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 172,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,228,000 after buying an additional 13,318 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% during the 4th 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. Argent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the first quarter valued at about $546,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 34,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,864,000 after acquiring an additional 173,155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chefs’ Warehouse 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 24,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHEF opened at $111.07 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.89 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $117.33.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 16.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHEF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chefs’ Warehouse currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.43.

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.