The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives $44.75 Average Price Target from Brokerages

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.75.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CAKE shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $48.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.01. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $30.96 and a 1-year high of $50.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.47.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors 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 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

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.