Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $48.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $30.96 and a 1-year high of $50.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in 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 buying an additional 43,128 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,038,000 after buying an additional 223,497 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 819,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,191,000 after buying an additional 60,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.