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 research note released on Thursday.

CAKE has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Stephens upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.75.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $50.64 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $30.96 and a 52-week high of $50.94. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $44.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.30.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.11. The company 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%. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth about $67,000. Wealth Alliance acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.