Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Upgraded by Oppenheimer to Outperform Rating

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $65.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

CAKE has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $50.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.45 and a 200-day moving average of $42.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $31.24 and a one year high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 41.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $223,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.