Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given "Outperform" Rating at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has reaffirmed its "outperform" rating on Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) with a new target price of $70.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.95%.
• Cheesecake Factory reported quarterly earnings of $1.16 per share, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 5.7% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Insider sales have occurred, with the Director and President each significantly reducing their stock holdings, raising concerns among investors about the company’s future performance.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 target price on the restaurant operator's stock, down from their prior target price of $73.00. Raymond James Financial's price target indicates a potential upside of 28.95% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on CAKE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stephens set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Monday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.44.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.14 on Thursday, reaching $54.28. The company had a trading volume of 252,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,411,439. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.06. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $40.72 and a fifty-two week high of $69.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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

Insider Activity

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $448,379.28. This trade represents a 64.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total transaction of $2,732,705.10. Following the completion of the sale, the president 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,859,194 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at about $75,795,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 83.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,591,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $126,088,000 after purchasing 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 1st quarter worth approximately $47,720,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $85,940,000 after purchasing an additional 689,784 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 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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