Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $52.41 and last traded at $52.44, with a volume of 154260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CAKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. The trade was 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 accessible through the SEC website. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,114,000. JCP Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at about $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew 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 worth $16,353,000 after buying an additional 99,341 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.