The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.27 (NASDAQ:CAKE)

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the restaurant operator on Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%.

Cheesecake Factory has a dividend payout ratio of 26.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Cheesecake Factory to earn $3.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.3%.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,093,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,378,591. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $50.88 and its 200-day moving average is $45.18.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. On average, research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.93.

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.