Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

CAKE has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.17.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $48.01 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.18. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $30.46 and a 52-week high of $50.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.47.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,038,000 after buying an additional 223,497 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,353,000 after buying an additional 99,341 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after acquiring an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.0% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 819,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 60,545 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.