The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Short Interest Down 8.8% in November

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,410,000 shares, a decline of 8.8% from the November 15th total of 5,930,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days. Approximately 11.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.08.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $49.87 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $31.24 and a 12 month high of $52.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.92 and its 200 day moving average is $41.15.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value 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 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Wealth Alliance purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.