Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $50.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on CAKE. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.67.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $42.04 on Tuesday. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $29.27 and a 1-year high of $43.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.66 and a 200 day moving average of $38.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The company had revenue of $904.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $909.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,108,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 40,881 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,829,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter worth approximately $400,000. 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.