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

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.42.

Several analysts recently issued reports on CAKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $42.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $28.63 and a one year high of $42.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.49.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The firm had revenue of $904.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 39.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 2,892 shares during the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,149,000. Shellback Capital LP bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,120,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 142.5% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 29,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 17,079 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.