Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Raised to $59.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective upped by Wedbush from $52.00 to $59.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on CAKE. UBS Group boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $48.06 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.43. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $30.96 and a fifty-two week high of $50.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The business 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 43.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at about $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at about $121,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. Institutional investors 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.