Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $108.42 and last traded at $107.8620, with a volume of 60798 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CAKE. Morgan Stanley raised Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised Cheesecake Factory from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $91.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Stephens reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.78 and a 200 day moving average of $67.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.00.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.26. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 43.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 68,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.30, for a total transaction of $6,841,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 45,109 shares in the company, valued at $4,479,323.70. This trade represents a 60.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ashley W. Hanscom sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $754,100. This represents a 31.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 179,331 shares of company stock valued at $18,413,065 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,771,000 after acquiring an additional 564,744 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,020,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,401,000 after acquiring an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,850,000 after acquiring an additional 349,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% during the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,499,000 after purchasing an additional 270,160 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.