Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective increased by Jefferies Financial Group from $49.00 to $58.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.93.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $51.36 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $31.24 and a one year high of $52.10.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

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