Analysts Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Target Price at $52.81

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.38.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CAKE. Raymond James increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $63,114,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth about $56,288,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,062,000 after buying an additional 673,076 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,827,000. Finally, JCP Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 181.3% in the fourth quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 667,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,652,000 after acquiring an additional 430,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 2.1 %

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $48.66 on Tuesday. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $51.68 and its 200 day moving average is $47.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. 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 (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.