The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,410,000 shares, a decline of 8.8% from the November 15th total of 5,930,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days. Approximately 11.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $51.36 on Tuesday. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $31.24 and a 12-month high of $52.10. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.24.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $865.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 the SEC website. 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. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 942,694 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,038,000 after purchasing an additional 223,497 shares during the period. JCP Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter worth about $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,353,000 after acquiring an additional 99,341 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted 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 valued at $111,245,000 after acquiring an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $76,084,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.