Cheesecake Factory’s (CAKE) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $45.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $47.00 in a report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $39.58.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.1 %

CAKE stock opened at $39.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.21. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.43. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $28.58 and a fifty-two week high of $41.25.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 42.15% and a net margin of 3.07%. The company had revenue of $891.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $890.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 3,785 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total value of $151,778.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,125,687.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAKE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at about $121,000. 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.