Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, The Goldman Sachs Group Analyst Says

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $56.00 to $64.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.02% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on CAKE. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.93.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.13. The company had a trading volume of 398,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,279,852. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.14. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $33.05 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.51.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 2,892 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $227,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,660 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,053 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.