Brokerages Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Target Price at $52.81

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.38.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $51.09 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.44. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $33.05 and a fifty-two week high of $57.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 33.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth about $56,288,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,049 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 101,208 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 13,678 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 489,570 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $23,225,000 after acquiring an additional 146,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,500,000. 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.