Raymond James Issues Positive Forecast for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Raymond James from $51.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.93.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE traded up $1.79 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $51.66. The stock had a trading volume of 598,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 976,377. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $31.24 and a 1-year high of $52.10. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $45.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.15.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 41.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $45,365,000 after acquiring an additional 12,493 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at about $317,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $628,000. Tabor Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter worth approximately $1,327,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 during the period. 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.