Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CAKE. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $46.56 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.92 and its 200 day moving average is $39.88. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $30.96 and a 12 month high of $50.75.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The business had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $37,038,000 after buying an additional 223,497 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth about $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,353,000 after buying an additional 99,341 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in 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, State Street Corp raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by 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.