The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.40.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAKE. Raymond James increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter worth about $223,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $49.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $31.24 and a fifty-two week high of $52.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.31.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 41.06%.

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.