Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Raised to Hold at Robert W. Baird

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) was upgraded by Robert W. Baird to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Northcoast Research downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $113.49 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.28. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $43.07 and a twelve month high of $118.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.00.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.26. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.97% and a net margin of 4.61%.The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.54 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Janice L. Meyer sold 1,958 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.36, for a total value of $214,126.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,324,009.36. The trade was a 8.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 94,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.27, for a total transaction of $10,004,789.15. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 89,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,543,577.35. This represents a 51.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 216,239 shares of company stock valued at $22,463,500 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.8% in the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 5,802 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.