Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Sets New 12-Month High at $41.33

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $41.33 and last traded at $41.27, with a volume of 30615 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CAKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.08.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.1 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.43.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $904.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $909.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 49.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $11,729,000. Seven Eight Capital LP lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 231.4% in the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 30,086 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 21,007 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at about $1,829,000. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth about $1,108,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,772,000 after acquiring an additional 43,128 shares during the last quarter. 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.