Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

CAKE has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.17.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 5.7 %

CAKE stock opened at $49.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.47. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $50.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.74.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 45.66%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at $1,829,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,772,000 after acquiring an additional 43,128 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,149,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.7% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 19,215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 5,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.