Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

CAKE has been the topic of several other research reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $116.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.47.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE stock opened at $106.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $43.07 and a 12-month high of $118.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.97.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.06. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 44.53% and a net margin of 5.20%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, EVP Scarlett May sold 2,939 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.12, for a total transaction of $335,398.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,264.24. The trade was a 16.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total value of $48,326.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $389,797.88. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 29,154 shares of company stock worth $3,298,256 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,008,000 after buying an additional 29,037 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.0% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 482,442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $50,772,000 after buying an additional 13,970 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,020,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,793,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,743,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Cheesecake Factory

Here are the key news stories impacting Cheesecake Factory this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks characterized CAKE as a strong momentum stock, a potentially supportive signal for trend-focused investors. The article does not point to a new company announcement or change in fundamentals. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discuss election results in districts with Cheesecake Factory locations, along with a political joke and references to the restaurant at an election-night event. These stories appear to use the chain as a cultural or geographic reference, not report changes to CAKE’s business. Article about election results in Cheesecake Factory districts Article about political coverage involving Cheesecake Factory

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ: CAKE) is a restaurant company that operates and licenses restaurants under several brands. Its portfolio includes The Cheesecake Factory, North Italia and restaurants developed by Fox Restaurant Concepts, such as Flower Child and Culinary Dropout.

The company’s restaurants serve a range of dishes, including appetizers, entrees and desserts. Its bakery division produces cheesecakes and other baked goods for its restaurants and for foodservice and retail customers.

The company’s roots trace to a bakery business started by Evelyn Overton, and her son David Overton opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, in 1978.