Robert W. Baird Increases Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $47.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective upped by Robert W. Baird from $40.00 to $47.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.17.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $45.82 on Wednesday. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $29.27 and a 1-year high of $49.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.27 and a 200-day moving average of $38.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 45.66%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,829,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 worth $48,772,000 after purchasing an additional 43,128 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares during the period. JCP Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at $5,149,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.7% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 19,215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 5,360 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.