The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.81.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CAKE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $51.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.55 and a 200-day moving average of $47.30. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at $63,114,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,288,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,062,000 after purchasing an additional 673,076 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth about $21,827,000. Finally, JCP Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 181.3% during the fourth quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 667,210 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,652,000 after purchasing an additional 430,000 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.