The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives $61.81 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.8125.

CAKE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $53.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 635 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $40,474.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $393,339.54. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 5,206 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.95, for a total value of $327,717.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,618,759.25. This represents a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,582 shares of company stock valued at $1,337,936. Corporate insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 226.5% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 39.2% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 661.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 973.2% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $56.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.97. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $42.69 and a 12 month high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.68% and a net margin of 3.96%.The company had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $949.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.09%.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.