The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives $49.40 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.40.

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAKE. Citigroup lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter worth approximately $973,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after purchasing an additional 22,416 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after acquiring an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,365,000 after acquiring an additional 12,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $48.89 on Thursday. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $31.24 and a 52-week high of $52.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.43.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued 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 2.21%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

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.