Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

CAKE has been the topic of several other research reports. Wedbush increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CAKE opened at $46.63 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.70. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $30.96 and a 12-month high of $50.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth about $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at about $121,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $202,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently 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.