Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given Outperform Rating at Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $45.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

CAKE has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.18.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $42.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.96. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $29.27 and a 1 year high of $43.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.49.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $904.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.19 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter worth approximately $121,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operates and licenses restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates bakeries that produce cheesecakes and other baked products for its restaurants, international licensees, third-party bakery customers, external foodservice operators, retailers, and distributors.