Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Share Price Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $88.70 and traded as high as $111.90. Chefs’ Warehouse shares last traded at $111.76, with a volume of 446,236 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark lifted their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $106.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chefs’ Warehouse has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.67.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.12 and a beta of 1.38.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its 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. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 2.09%.The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 100,000 shares of Chefs’ Warehouse stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.11, for a total value of $11,011,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,105,480 shares in the company, valued at $231,834,402.80. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.97, for a total transaction of $3,883,950.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 34,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,822,028.74. This represents a 50.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 137,752 shares of company stock worth $15,203,174 in the last quarter. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 13,318 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,619,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,745,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,127,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,423,000. Institutional investors own 91.55% of the company’s stock.

Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile

Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc is a specialty food distributor serving professional chefs, restaurants, hotels, culinary institutions and other foodservice customers. The company provides a broad selection of specialty and center-of-the-plate products, including fresh produce, seafood, meat, poultry, dairy, imported foods, dry goods, frozen items and other culinary ingredients.

In addition to food products, Chefs’ Warehouse offers related supplies and services designed to support commercial kitchens and foodservice operations.