StockNews.com Upgrades Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price 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 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $46.56 on Wednesday. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $30.96 and a fifty-two week high of $50.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.47. 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of Cheesecake Factory 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at about $317,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at about $628,000. Tabor Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,327,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.