Short Interest in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Grows By 9.3%

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,040,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the March 31st total of 6,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 821,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.6 days. Approximately 15.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAKE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.64.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.52. 694,055 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 819,710. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $28.58 and a 52 week high of $38.19. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $35.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 41.66%. The business had revenue of $877.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $876.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.