BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) Stock

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $60.00 to $73.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.79% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Benchmark boosted their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Chefs’ Warehouse from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Lake Street Capital upped their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chefs’ Warehouse presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.60.

Chefs’ Warehouse Price Performance

CHEF stock opened at $65.30 on Thursday. Chefs’ Warehouse has a 1 year low of $31.96 and a 1 year high of $65.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.80. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.28 and a beta of 2.29.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 12.67% and a net margin of 1.28%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chefs’ Warehouse will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chefs’ Warehouse

In related news, CFO James Leddy sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.85, for a total value of $195,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 145,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,112,022.65. This represents a 2.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Alexandros Aldous sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $225,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 114,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,390. This represents a 4.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chefs’ Warehouse

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 303.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 70,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Chefs’ Warehouse by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 41,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. 91.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Chefs’ Warehouse

The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. The company’s product portfolio includes specialty food products, such as artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate, and pastry products; and center-of-the-plate products consisting of custom cut beef, seafood, and hormone-free poultry, as well as broadline food products comprising cooking oils, butter, eggs, milk, and flour.