Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $50.82 and last traded at $50.60, with a volume of 27577 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results 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 firm 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 was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. 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 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 40,477 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 62.7% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 22,578 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $887,000 after buying an additional 8,704 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 230,535 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.