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

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.64.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Friday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $33.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.46. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $28.58 and a twelve month high of $38.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.48.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $877.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 41.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,568,464 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $168,724,000 after buying an additional 22,099 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,799,304 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $133,166,000 after purchasing an additional 21,505 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,751,453 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,283,000 after purchasing an additional 12,578 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,044,691 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $41,565,000 after purchasing an additional 42,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 966,062 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,406,000 after purchasing an additional 34,508 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.