Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $53.21 and last traded at $53.34, with a volume of 136071 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAKE. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.2 %

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’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.50.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,114,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,772,000 after purchasing an additional 43,128 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 597,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,245,000 after purchasing an additional 6,872 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently 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.