Stephens Issues Positive Forecast for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective boosted by Stephens from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CAKE. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.08.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CAKE opened at $50.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $31.24 and a one year high of $52.10. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.06%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,245,000 after acquiring an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,772,000 after purchasing an additional 43,128 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,038,000 after purchasing an additional 223,497 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.