Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given New $41.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at UBS Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 18.42% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.29.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $50.26 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.30 and its 200-day moving average is $42.19. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. 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 results 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 firm had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,038,000 after acquiring an additional 223,497 shares during the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 99,341 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.