Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $50.00 to $58.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential downside of 5.31% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CAKE. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.63.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 2.5%

CAKE opened at $61.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.14. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $33.50 and a 52 week high of $61.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.06% and a net margin of 4.33%. Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Analysts forecast that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,145,062.88. This trade represents a 70.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total value of $1,105,816.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,345,331.04. The trade was a 45.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992. 8.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 208.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

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.