Brinker International (EAT) Competitors

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) and Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) are both mid-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Is EAT or CAKE a better dividend stock?

Brinker International pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Cheesecake Factory pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Brinker International pays out 18.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cheesecake Factory pays out 33.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do analysts recommend EAT or CAKE?

Brinker International presently has a consensus price target of $172.59, indicating a potential upside of 10.74%. Cheesecake Factory has a consensus price target of $61.94, indicating a potential upside of 4.78%. Given Brinker International's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Brinker International is more favorable than Cheesecake Factory.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brinker International	0 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Cheesecake Factory	4 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.19

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in EAT or CAKE?

94.5% of Cheesecake Factory shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Brinker International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Cheesecake Factory shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, EAT or CAKE?

Brinker International has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cheesecake Factory has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EAT or CAKE more profitable?

Brinker International has a net margin of 7.12% compared to Cheesecake Factory's net margin of 4.33%. Brinker International's return on equity of 211.86% beat Cheesecake Factory's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brinker International	7.12%	211.86%	15.85%
Cheesecake Factory	4.33%	45.92%	5.93%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, EAT or CAKE?

Brinker International has higher revenue and earnings than Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake Factory is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brinker International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brinker International	$5.38B	1.29	$383.10M	$8.31	18.76
Cheesecake Factory	$3.58B	0.82	$156.78M	$3.25	18.19

Does the media favor EAT or CAKE?

In the previous week, Brinker International had 6 more articles in the media than Cheesecake Factory. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Brinker International and 11 mentions for Cheesecake Factory. Brinker International's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Cheesecake Factory's score of 0.89 indicating that Brinker International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Brinker International	11 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cheesecake Factory	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Brinker International beats Cheesecake Factory on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.