Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $81.86 and last traded at $82.37, with a volume of 126491 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $78.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAKE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Northcoast Research downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.12.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 4.8%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The firm had revenue of $978.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $400,497.90. This trade represents a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total transaction of $6,346,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,079,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,928,114.58. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 183.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 133,921 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,072,000 after buying an additional 86,705 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 503,184 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,401,000 after acquiring an additional 33,959 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter worth about $1,366,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth about $1,111,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 140.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 26,064 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 15,242 shares in 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 (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.