Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) PT Raised to $40.00 at Robert W. Baird

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective lifted by Robert W. Baird from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the company from $38.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $40.25.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.69. 5,617 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 945,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.53. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $28.58 and a twelve month high of $41.25.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $904.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.19 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.30% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.54%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 3,785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total transaction of $151,778.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,125,687.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.8% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 758,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,430,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 559,492 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $19,588,000 after acquiring an additional 13,352 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.7% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 530,497 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,843,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 529,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,533,000 after purchasing an additional 41,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 400,099 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,464,000 after buying an additional 18,250 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.