Analysts Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target at $34.60

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.60.

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAKE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cheesecake Factory from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Friday, April 12th.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $33.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $28.58 and a 1 year high of $38.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 41.66% and a net margin of 2.95%. The firm had revenue of $891.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $890.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,568,464 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $168,724,000 after purchasing an additional 22,099 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.8% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 758,783 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,430,000 after acquiring an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 559,492 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,588,000 after acquiring an additional 13,352 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 529,375 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,533,000 after acquiring an additional 41,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 476,762 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,446,000 after acquiring an additional 9,409 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.