Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Raised to $36.00 at UBS Group

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.67.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $43.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.43. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $29.27 and a 52 week high of $43.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.76 and a 200-day moving average of $38.23.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business had revenue of $904.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.54%.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the 2nd 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 during the period. JCP Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,149,000. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 8.0% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 819,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,191,000 after purchasing an additional 60,545 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 103.1% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 112,088 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,404,000 after purchasing an additional 56,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.