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

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $46.00 to $50.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CAKE. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.3 %

CAKE opened at $54.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.31. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $33.05 and a 52 week high of $57.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. 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 results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.67 million. Analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,051 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,772 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is 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.