Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given a $64.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Cheesecake Factory's price target was raised by Robert W. Baird from $56.00 to $64.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.53% from the previous close.
• The company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 5.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Insider transactions revealed significant stock sales by executives, with CFO Matthew Eliot Clark selling 42,900 shares, representing a 51.21% decrease in his position.

Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CAKE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Argus set a $60.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.06.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE traded down $1.50 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.41. The company had a trading volume of 465,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,491. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $60.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.20. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $33.50 and a fifty-two week high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.15% and a net margin of 4.33%. The business had revenue of $955.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $945.82 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total value of $1,105,816.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,331.04. This represents a 45.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $2,783,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,774 shares in the company, valued at $1,145,062.88. This represents a 70.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,000 shares of company stock worth $7,456,992 over the last three months. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $258,238,000 after buying an additional 21,096 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 156.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,045,705 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $148,204,000 after buying an additional 1,859,194 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,178,722 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 689,784 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 17.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,604,626 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $78,081,000 after buying an additional 241,575 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.