Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Raised to $40.00 at Morgan Stanley

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $37.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE opened at $54.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.53. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $33.05 and a 1 year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $920.96 million for 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 fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 101,208 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 13,678 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 489,570 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $23,225,000 after buying an additional 146,469 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,500,000. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 8,215 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Finally, Sapience Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,857,000. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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.