Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.17.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 2.3 %

CAKE stock opened at $48.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $30.46 and a 12 month high of $50.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.32 and its 200 day moving average is $39.18.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,038,000 after purchasing an additional 223,497 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after buying an additional 99,341 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,245,000 after buying an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.0% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 819,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 60,545 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.