William Blair Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE)

William Blair reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,RTT News reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on CAKE. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned 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 target price of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $54.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $51.06 and its 200-day moving average is $45.31.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. Equities analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 101,208 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after purchasing an additional 13,678 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 489,570 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $23,225,000 after purchasing an additional 146,469 shares during the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,500,000. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 8,215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapience Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,857,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.