Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Shares Gap Down to $40.69

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $40.69, but opened at $39.00. Cheesecake Factory shares last traded at $38.75, with a volume of 796,640 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Raymond James raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cheesecake Factory from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

The business's fifty day moving average is $35.52 and its 200-day moving average is $34.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 42.15% and a net margin of 3.07%. The business had revenue of $891.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $890.49 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is 49.54%.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 3,785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total value of $151,778.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,125,687.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,035 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,148 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 2,935 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,642 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,533 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 24.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 302,389 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $9,162,000 after purchasing an additional 59,030 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.