The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,120,000 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the November 30th total of 5,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days. Approximately 13.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Wealth Alliance purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 13.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE traded down $0.62 on Monday, hitting $47.37. 717,765 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 981,422. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.83. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $31.24 and a 52 week high of $52.10. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAKE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of 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 shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.93.

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.