The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.9375.

CAKE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $52.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $38.47 and a 1-year high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $955.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.92% and a net margin of 4.33%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total transaction of $816,121.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $448,379.28. The trade was a 64.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total value of $2,732,705.10. Following the sale, the president directly owned 24,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,987.92. This trade represents a 63.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 156.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,045,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $148,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859,194 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at $75,795,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 83.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,591,205 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $126,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,722 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at $47,720,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $85,940,000 after acquiring an additional 689,784 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is 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.