Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $862,000 Stock Position in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 45.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,865 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,656,000 after acquiring an additional 318,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,668,000 after purchasing an additional 242,917 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,864,000 after purchasing an additional 173,155 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,142,000. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Up 0.9%

CHEF stock opened at $96.10 on Wednesday. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.20 and a 52 week high of $97.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.87. 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 company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 53.39 and a beta of 1.44.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Chefs’ Warehouse had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total transaction of $9,750,000.00. Following the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CHEF. UBS Group dropped their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse 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.