The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Short Interest Update

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,120,000 shares, an increase of 13.1% from the November 30th total of 5,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days. Currently, 13.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.93.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ CAKE traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, reaching $47.44. The company had a trading volume of 721,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 980,393. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $31.24 and a 52 week high of $52.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.64 and its 200-day moving average is $41.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced 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. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s 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 trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth about $67,000. Wealth Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.