Analysts Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Target Price at $64.94

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.9412.

CAKE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $78.17 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $65.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $78.87.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $964.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $187,928,114.58. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $400,497.90. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 8.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 24.9% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 55,576 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 11,088 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,161 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth approximately $196,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 5.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. Finally, Long Road Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% during the first quarter. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC now owns 43,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.