The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) to Issue $0.27 Quarterly Dividend

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the restaurant operator on Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st.

Cheesecake Factory has raised its dividend by an average of 44.2% per year over the last three years. Cheesecake Factory has a payout ratio of 31.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cheesecake Factory to earn $3.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.5%.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,507,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,587. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $28.58 and a 12 month high of $38.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.48.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $891.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $890.49 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 41.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $47.00 in a report on Friday. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.67.

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.