Citigroup Lowers Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $65.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $68.00 to $65.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 32.36% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $65.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $67.00 price objective (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $70.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.47.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of CAKE opened at $49.11 on Wednesday. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $42.69 and a 52-week high of $69.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $907.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.95 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 47.25% and a net margin of 4.33%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total transaction of $2,732,705.10. Following the sale, the president directly owned 24,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,987.92. The trade was a 63.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 39.2% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 32.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.