The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Has Average Price Target of $90.33

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.33.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $116.43 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.04. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $43.07 and a 52-week high of $118.63.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.26. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 43.97%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $999.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Director Edie A. Ames sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.95, for a total value of $320,850.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,500. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Janice L. Meyer sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.36, for a total value of $214,126.88. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,324,009.36. This trade represents a 8.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 213,749 shares of company stock valued at $22,301,899. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,008,000 after buying an additional 29,037 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,020,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,793,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,792,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,743,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.