Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 58,046 Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 931,671 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,046 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 2.29% of Chefs’ Warehouse worth $54,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHEF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Chefs’ Warehouse during the third quarter worth $736,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,431,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Chefs’ Warehouse in the second quarter worth about $11,805,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 362.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 429,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,382,000 after purchasing an additional 336,357 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128 shares during the period. 91.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CHEF. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Chefs’ Warehouse in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Chefs’ Warehouse has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.00.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

Shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock opened at $65.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.94. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.00 and a fifty-two week high of $68.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.45 and a beta of 1.28.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.36 million. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 1.85%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chefs’ Warehouse

In related news, CFO James Leddy sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $1,366,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 125,892 shares in the company, valued at $7,819,152.12. This trade represents a 14.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.