Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Raised to $59.00 at Wedbush

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price target boosted by Wedbush from $52.00 to $59.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 22.76% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 0.1 %

CAKE stock opened at $48.06 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.40. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $30.96 and a 12 month high of $50.75. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 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 (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter worth about $121,000. Finally, Wealth Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.