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

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price boosted by Wedbush from $52.00 to $59.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CAKE traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $48.03. The stock had a trading volume of 436,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 970,628. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $30.96 and a 1 year high of $50.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.70 and its 200 day moving average is $39.30. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,038,000 after purchasing an additional 223,497 shares during the period. JCP Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after buying an additional 99,341 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after buying an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 819,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,191,000 after buying an additional 60,545 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.