Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Cut 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 note released on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CAKE. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. Finally, Wedbush boosted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $50.64 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 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 0.33. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $30.96 and a one year high of $50.94.

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

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Wealth Alliance acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.