The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.60.

CAKE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $53.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $57.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.11.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The company had revenue of $927.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $927.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,134,687.36. The trade was a 42.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $258,238,000 after buying an additional 21,096 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 83.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,591,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $126,088,000 after buying an additional 1,178,722 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $85,940,000 after buying an additional 689,784 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,604,626 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $78,081,000 after buying an additional 241,575 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at $75,795,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.