The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Short Interest Update

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,610,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the August 15th total of 5,930,000 shares. Currently, 11.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 950,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $38.14 on Thursday. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $28.58 and a 1 year high of $41.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAKE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,729,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,038,000 after buying an additional 223,497 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,149,000. IPG Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 151,695 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after buying an additional 77,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.