Brokerages Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Target Price at $49.40

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.40.

CAKE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer raised Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at about $223,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $48.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $31.24 and a one year high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 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 firm had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

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.