Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $45.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Cheesecake Factory’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.51 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.89 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $3.22 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.92 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.19 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.57 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $1.06 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CAKE. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $40.25.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $35.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $28.58 and a fifty-two week high of $41.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.68 and a 200-day moving average of $36.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.51.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $904.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.19 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 45.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 3,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total transaction of $151,778.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,125,687.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 276.4% during 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 last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.