Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $50.00 to $46.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price points to a potential upside of 0.70% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CAKE. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.13.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $45.68 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.47 and its 200 day moving average is $48.08. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter valued at approximately $329,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 79,148 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,209,000 after buying an additional 3,342 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $76,084,000 after purchasing an additional 67,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $628,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.