Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Shares Up 4.9% – Time to Buy?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)’s stock price shot up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $66.80 and last traded at $66.96. 602,163 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,270,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CAKE shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.94.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.37.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $964.57 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.74% and a net margin of 4.34%.Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Scarlett May sold 5,206 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.95, for a total value of $327,717.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,618,759.25. This represents a 16.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $6,346,080.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,079,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,928,114.58. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 111,696 shares of company stock valued at $6,835,399 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 55,576 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 11,088 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,940 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,161 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at about $196,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Road Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% in the first quarter. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC now owns 43,920 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,405,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.