Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 2,124,373 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 319% from the previous session’s volume of 506,889 shares.The stock last traded at $110.6110 and had previously closed at $112.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on CHEF shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Chefs’ Warehouse from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.43.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.63. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.73 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chefs’ Warehouse news, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $356,445.00. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chefs’ Warehouse

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 8.4% during 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,010,000 after buying an additional 58,154 shares during the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in the first quarter worth about $546,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $16,538,000 after acquiring an additional 34,011 shares during the period. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the fourth quarter worth about $2,630,000. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.