Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Breaks Below Fifty Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) shares crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $107.81 and traded as low as $106.42. Cheesecake Factory shares last traded at $106.76, with a volume of 1,129,662 shares trading hands.

Key Cheesecake Factory News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cheesecake Factory this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks characterized CAKE as a strong momentum stock, a potentially supportive signal for trend-focused investors. The article does not point to a new company announcement or change in fundamentals. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discuss election results in districts with Cheesecake Factory locations, along with a political joke and references to the restaurant at an election-night event. These stories appear to use the chain as a cultural or geographic reference, not report changes to CAKE’s business. Article about election results in Cheesecake Factory districts Article about political coverage involving Cheesecake Factory

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAKE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $101.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Freedom Capital raised Cheesecake Factory from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $128.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.47.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 3.6%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.81 and a 200-day moving average of $80.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 46.95%. Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.44%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, CFO Matthew Clark sold 23,832 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.31, for a total value of $2,700,403.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 45,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,111,300.79. The trade was a 34.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 2,939 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.12, for a total transaction of $335,398.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,264.24. This trade represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,104 shares of company stock valued at $7,134,565. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth $36,000. NFSG Corp grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 115.8% in the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 682 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is a restaurant company best known for The Cheesecake Factory, a full-service casual dining brand offering an extensive menu of American and international-inspired dishes, along with a broad selection of cheesecakes and other desserts. The company also operates North Italia, an Italian restaurant concept, and owns Fox Restaurant Concepts, which develops and operates additional restaurant brands, including Flower Child and Culinary Dropout.

The company was founded by David Overton, who opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, in 1978 after his parents began a cheesecake business.