Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by StockNews.com

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Friday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.17.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 2.3 %

Cheesecake Factory stock traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.01. 1,695,996 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 971,475. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.44. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $30.46 and a 12 month high of $50.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.09. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.47.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Cheesecake Factory's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $747,052.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 37,540 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.5% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,593 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,600 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,110 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,608 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.