Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $79.62 and last traded at $79.5270, with a volume of 133935 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Stephens increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus set a $72.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.94.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.06.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 4.34%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 183.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 133,921 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,072,000 after acquiring an additional 86,705 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 503,184 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,401,000 after purchasing an additional 33,959 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,366,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,800,388 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $98,373,000 after purchasing an additional 96,074 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 60,948.4% during the 3rd quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 18,925 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 18,894 shares during the last quarter. 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.