Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.18% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on CAKE. UBS Group raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stephens increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.62.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $49.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.05 and a 200 day moving average of $40.66. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $31.24 and a 1 year high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its 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 return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. The trade was a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth about $973,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after buying an additional 22,416 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,353,000 after buying an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in 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. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after buying an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.