Brokerages Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Target Price at $54.00

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

CAKE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $57.61. 1,107,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,210,213. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $51.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $33.50 and a 1-year high of $59.45.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The business had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $927.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Scarlett May sold 20,800 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.02, for a total transaction of $1,165,216.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,281,289.44. The trade was a 47.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,145,062.88. The trade was a 70.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,718 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $17,112,000 after acquiring an additional 32,000 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $489,000. Ruffer LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $9,401,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $972,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $6,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.