Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Rating Increased to Hold at Robert W. Baird

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

CAKE has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Northcoast Research cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $113.49 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.28. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $43.07 and a 12-month high of $118.46.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.54 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 43.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ashley W. Hanscom sold 3,500 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $754,100. The trade was a 31.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 7,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.66, for a total value of $819,021.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,872,621.06. This represents a 30.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 216,239 shares of company stock worth $22,463,500 in the last 90 days. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 661.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. NFSG Corp boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 115.8% in the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 682 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 973.2% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 880 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.