Barclays Boosts Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $38.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CAKE. Citigroup upped their price target 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 upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.18.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $41.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $29.27 and a twelve month high of $43.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.57 and its 200-day moving average is $38.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.49.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $909.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter worth $1,829,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,772,000 after acquiring an additional 43,128 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter worth $1,108,000. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after acquiring an additional 76,578 shares during the period. Finally, JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth $5,149,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.