Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Upgraded by Oppenheimer to “Outperform” Rating

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $65.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CAKE. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.40.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $49.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $31.24 and a 1-year 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.36.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.13 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 43.90%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 223,497 shares during the last quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 32.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 403,271 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,353,000 after purchasing an additional 99,341 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,831,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $111,245,000 after purchasing an additional 76,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% during the third 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. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.