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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $49.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.47. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $30.96 and a 52 week high of $50.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.15.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $747,052.76. This trade represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. Wealth Alliance purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.