Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $80.93 and last traded at $80.3260, with a volume of 258305 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAKE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.29.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.39.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The firm had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $400,497.90. The trade was a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $6,346,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,928,114.58. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 226.5% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. NFSG Corp lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 115.8% during the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 682 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 661.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 973.2% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.