Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $76.54 and last traded at $76.27, with a volume of 483439 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $73.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CAKE shares. Mizuho set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.94.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.04.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 4.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman owned 3,079,779 shares in the company, valued at $187,928,114.58. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,497.90. The trade was a 28.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 8.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 226.5% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 661.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. NFSG Corp lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 115.8% during the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 682 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 973.2% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.