The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.9412.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAKE. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Argus set a $72.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Ashley W. Hanscom sold 2,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.64, for a total transaction of $193,703.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,731.24. This trade represents a 21.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.70, for a total transaction of $459,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,896,713. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 124,582 shares of company stock worth $7,684,016. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 5,802 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $61.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.04. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $43.07 and a 1 year high of $69.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.09%.

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.