Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of CAKE opened at $49.74 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.15. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.47. 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 one year low of $30.96 and a one year high of $50.75.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This 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 accessible through this link. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% during the third 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 during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.2% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. 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.