The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.08.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAKE. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Earnest Partners LLC boosted 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 worth $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% during the 3rd 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $48,772,000 after buying an additional 43,128 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $45,365,000 after acquiring an additional 12,493 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,038,000 after acquiring an additional 223,497 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.2 %

Cheesecake Factory stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $49.87. 870,050 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 978,199. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Cheesecake Factory has a 52-week low of $31.24 and a 52-week high of $52.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $45.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.15.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.06%.

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.