The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.08.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CAKE. StockNews.com lowered Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE opened at $49.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.92 and a 200 day moving average of $41.12. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $31.24 and a 52-week high of $52.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,772,000 after buying an additional 43,128 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,365,000 after buying an additional 12,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,038,000 after acquiring an additional 223,497 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operates and licenses restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates bakeries that produce cheesecakes and other baked products for its restaurants, international licensees, third-party bakery customers, external foodservice operators, retailers, and distributors.