Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CAKE. Citigroup lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $46.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.33 and a 200-day moving average of $39.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $30.96 and a 1 year high of $50.75.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter worth $121,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter worth $202,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 38.7% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 19,215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 5,360 shares during the last quarter. 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.