The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NASDAQ:CAKE)

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the restaurant operator on Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th.

Cheesecake Factory has raised its dividend by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years. Cheesecake Factory has a payout ratio of 29.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Cheesecake Factory to earn $4.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.0%.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE traded up $10.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $99.71. 3,334,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,341,260. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $43.07 and a twelve month high of $101.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.29. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The business’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CAKE shares. Northcoast Research cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $91.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.44.

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.