The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.75.

A number of equities analysts have commented on CAKE shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stephens raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Northcoast Research cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

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

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $85.77 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.65. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $86.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.