Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

CAKE has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.63.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $50.31 on Thursday. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $33.50 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.17. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $85,940,000 after buying an additional 689,784 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 219,581 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,685,000 after acquiring an additional 19,359 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 520.3% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,888 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 34,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,677 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.