Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Raised to $41.00 at UBS Group

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sell rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CAKE. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Citigroup increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $50.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $31.24 and a 12-month high of $52.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.26.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at $973,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after acquiring an additional 22,416 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after acquiring an additional 99,341 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,772,000 after purchasing an additional 43,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares in the last quarter. 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.