The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.27 (NASDAQ:CAKE)

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 31st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the restaurant operator on Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th.

Cheesecake Factory has raised its dividend by an average of 44.2% per year over the last three years. Cheesecake Factory has a dividend payout ratio of 30.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Cheesecake Factory to earn $3.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.9%.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 4.6 %

NASDAQ:CAKE traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.15. 339,460 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 939,379. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.51. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $28.58 and a one year high of $41.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.45.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $904.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $909.19 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CAKE. Bank of America lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised Cheesecake Factory from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $47.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 3,785 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total transaction of $151,778.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,125,687.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.10% 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.