The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.75.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at $63,114,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,288,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,062,000 after acquiring an additional 673,076 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,827,000. Finally, JCP Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 181.3% in the 4th quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 667,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,652,000 after purchasing an additional 430,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE stock opened at $47.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $33.44 and a twelve month high of $57.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.52 and its 200-day moving average is $48.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.