Barclays Raises Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target to $50.00

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $46.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer raised Cheesecake Factory from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Stephens increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.65. 2,232,702 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,442,655. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $33.05 and a 1-year high of $57.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.51.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.