Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $50.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.63.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 4.5 %

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $50.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $33.50 and a fifty-two week high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $927.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.