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

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.75.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAKE. Citigroup increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Argus set a $72.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Friday, May 1st.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $85.77 on Monday. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $43.07 and a twelve month high of $86.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.36 and a 200 day moving average of $63.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 28,742 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 30.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 92,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,509,000 after acquiring an additional 21,887 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 109,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,343,000 after acquiring an additional 8,592 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 32.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 112,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,326 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.