Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $38.00 to $44.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 8.68% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CAKE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stephens boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.00.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 12.4 %

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $5.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $48.18. 1,588,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 946,612. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.43. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $29.27 and a 1 year high of $49.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.85 and its 200 day moving average is $38.30.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth $345,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 5.5% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,660 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 4,053 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 11.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.