Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Earns Buy (B) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Cheesecake Factory's stock has been assigned a "buy (B)" rating by Weiss Ratings and various analysts have revised their price targets, with an average target of $61.94 and a consensus rating of "Hold."
• In its latest earnings report, Cheesecake Factory exceeded analysts' expectations with an EPS of $1.16 and revenue of $955.83 million, marking a 5.7% increase from the previous year.
• Notably, company insiders like President David M. Gordon and Director Alexander L. Cappello have sold significant shares recently, indicating a potential change in confidence or strategy.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.94.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.34. The stock had a trading volume of 937,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,432,378. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.51. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $38.40 and a 1 year high of $69.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $955.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 45.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total value of $2,732,705.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 24,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,546,987.92. This trade represents a 63.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total value of $816,121.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $448,379.28. This represents a 64.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 156.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,045,705 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $148,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,194 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at about $75,795,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 83.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,591,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $126,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,722 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth about $47,720,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $85,940,000 after acquiring an additional 689,784 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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