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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $48.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $30.96 and a fifty-two week high of $50.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.40.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the 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 directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 37,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,593 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% during 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 in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.