Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CAKE. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wedbush raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stephens increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $46.43 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.47. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $30.96 and a 1-year high of $50.75.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter valued at $202,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.