The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.81.

Several analysts recently weighed in on CAKE shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $51.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.30. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32. 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 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. The business had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. Equities analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,112,000 after purchasing an additional 32,000 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,401,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after acquiring an additional 22,416 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 252.6% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 22,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 16,300 shares during the period. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at $513,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.