Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $47.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their prior target price of $38.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $37.67.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.65. 2,507,915 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 960,332. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.20 and its 200 day moving average is $34.04. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $28.58 and a 1 year high of $38.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $891.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $890.49 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 42.15% and a net margin of 3.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other 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.