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

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.8125.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens downgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Cheesecake Factory from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $53.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ashley W. Hanscom sold 2,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.64, for a total value of $193,703.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,731.24. This represents a 21.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $40,474.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,339.54. The trade was a 9.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 20,582 shares of company stock worth $1,337,936 in the last quarter. 8.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 91,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,612,000 after acquiring an additional 23,448 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,337,671 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $118,006,000 after acquiring an additional 280,553 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. SummitTX Capital L.P. raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 80,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after acquiring an additional 41,034 shares during the period. Finally, Numerai GP LLC bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $2,027,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 3.2%

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $57.55 on Friday. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $43.00 and a twelve month high of $69.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.77. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.68% and a net margin of 3.96%.The firm had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $949.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This is a boost from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 39.09%.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.