Brokerages Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target at $52.81

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.38.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAKE. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE stock opened at $48.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $33.05 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.78. 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 (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced 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. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The business had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is 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.