Raymond James Financial Increases Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $70.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Raymond James Financial from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Argus set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.38.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.2%

CAKE stock traded up $0.77 on Thursday, hitting $62.68. 1,408,480 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,257,505. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $33.50 and a twelve month high of $65.99. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $58.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 46.06%. The company had revenue of $927.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $927.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.86%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider owned 20,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,145,062.88. The trade was a 70.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $2,402,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,878 shares in the company, valued at $2,289,168. This trade represents a 51.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 133,000 shares of company stock worth $7,456,992. 8.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,665 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,507 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 26,528 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,692 shares during the period. 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.