Oppenheimer Issues Positive Forecast for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective boosted by Oppenheimer from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.74% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Raymond James Financial downgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Mizuho set a $75.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $53.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $62.21. 430,174 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,298,075. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $43.07 and a 52 week high of $69.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.10. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.68% and a net margin of 3.96%.The firm had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $949.03 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scarlett May sold 5,206 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,759.25. This trade represents a 16.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 635 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $40,474.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $393,339.54. The trade was a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 20,582 shares of company stock worth $1,337,936 in the last three months. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter worth about $1,111,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 91,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,612,000 after purchasing an additional 23,448 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,337,671 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $118,006,000 after purchasing an additional 280,553 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 80,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 41,034 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.