UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on CAKE. Barclays lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cheesecake Factory from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,634,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,201. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.26. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $31.24 and a fifty-two week high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.06%.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $37,038,000 after acquiring an additional 223,497 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,353,000 after purchasing an additional 99,341 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $111,245,000 after buying an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $76,084,000 after buying an additional 67,550 shares in the last quarter. 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.