Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Raised to $61.00 at Wedbush

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price target hoisted by Wedbush from $59.00 to $61.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Cheesecake Factory’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.93 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $3.33 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $54.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.31. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $33.05 and a 1-year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. Analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $973,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after purchasing an additional 22,416 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after purchasing an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.