The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,410,000 shares, a decrease of 8.8% from the November 15th total of 5,930,000 shares. Approximately 11.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on CAKE. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.93.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 1.9 %

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $50.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. 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 52 week low of $31.24 and a 52 week high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $747,052.76. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 37,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.5% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.2% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during 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.