Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Stock

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price upped by analysts at Barclays from $45.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 9.06% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CAKE. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Argus set a $60.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ CAKE opened at $62.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.16. Cheesecake Factory has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $65.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $58.78 and its 200-day moving average is $53.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.06% and a net margin of 4.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total transaction of $1,105,816.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,345,331.04. The trade was a 45.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $2,402,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,289,168. The trade was a 51.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,000 shares of company stock worth $7,456,992 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 24.4% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in 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.