The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives $64.94 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.9412.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total transaction of $6,346,080.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares in the company, valued at $187,928,114.58. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,497.90. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,771,000 after buying an additional 564,744 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,401,000 after purchasing an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,850,000 after purchasing an additional 349,168 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% during the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,499,000 after purchasing an additional 270,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,819,000 after purchasing an additional 262,081 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE stock opened at $76.91 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $43.07 and a 12 month high of $78.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.65.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The company had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.