Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Mizuho

Mizuho downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from an outperform rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Mizuho currently has $85.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Northcoast Research cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.81.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $84.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.01. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $43.07 and a twelve month high of $87.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.77.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,497.90. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $6,346,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,928,114.58. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,771,000 after acquiring an additional 564,744 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $112,401,000 after purchasing an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,850,000 after purchasing an additional 349,168 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,499,000 after purchasing an additional 270,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,819,000 after purchasing an additional 262,081 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 (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.