The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.9412.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAKE. UBS Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $66.04 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.69 and its 200-day moving average is $56.75. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $43.07 and a 12-month high of $69.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.04.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The company had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $964.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scarlett May sold 5,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.95, for a total transaction of $327,717.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,618,759.25. This represents a 16.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total transaction of $6,346,080.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares in the company, valued at $187,928,114.58. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 5,802 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.