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

Key Points

• Brokerages rate Cheesecake Factory as a “Hold.” Among 18 analysts, three rate the stock a sell, nine a hold, and six a buy, with an average 12-month price target of about $67.13.
• Recent insider sales were notable. Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares, and Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares, reducing their holdings by 28.75% and 3.27%, respectively.
• The company posted solid quarterly results and pays a dividend. Cheesecake Factory beat EPS and revenue expectations in its latest quarter, and it recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, implying a 1.4% annualized yield.

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.1250.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CAKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cheesecake Factory from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Stephens lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cheesecake Factory from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $400,497.90. This trade represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $6,346,080.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $187,928,114.58. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 8.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,337,671 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $118,006,000 after acquiring an additional 280,553 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,785,955 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $90,155,000 after purchasing an additional 4,535 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,474,320 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $74,424,000 after purchasing an additional 207,788 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,143 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $68,008,000 after purchasing an additional 29,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,152,174 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $58,170,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE stock opened at $82.76 on Monday. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $84.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 4.34%.The company had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $964.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.09%.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated NASDAQ: CAKE is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.

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