Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $52.41 and last traded at $52.44, with a volume of 154260 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAKE. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 37,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.2% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in 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.