Citigroup Cuts Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $65.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $68.00 to $65.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $49.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens decreased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $70.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $65.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.47.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE opened at $49.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.14 and a 200-day moving average of $57.45. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $42.69 and a 52-week high of $69.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.51.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $907.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.95 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 47.25% and a net margin of 4.33%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total value of $2,732,705.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 24,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,546,987.92. This represents a 63.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 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.