Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.18.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE stock opened at $41.51 on Tuesday. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $29.27 and a 1-year high of $43.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.06. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.49.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 3.32%. The company had revenue of $904.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $909.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 49.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at about $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at about $121,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at about $202,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.