Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Given New $62.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective trimmed by Citigroup from $67.00 to $62.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer raised Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.81.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

CAKE opened at $47.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. Cheesecake Factory has a twelve month low of $33.08 and a twelve month high of $57.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. Equities analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.75%.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,112,000 after buying an additional 32,000 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth $9,401,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth about $972,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,513,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.