Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective lifted by Robert W. Baird from $40.00 to $47.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.69% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CAKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.17.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $46.22 on Wednesday. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $29.27 and a 1 year high of $49.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.41.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 43.62%. The business had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,038,000 after purchasing an additional 223,497 shares in the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth $5,149,000. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 76,578 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 819,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 60,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 103.1% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 112,088 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,404,000 after acquiring an additional 56,889 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.