Key Points
- Director Alexander Cappello sold 635 shares at an average price of $63.74 (totaling $40,474.90), reducing his stake by 9.33% to 6,171 shares, per an SEC Form 4 filing.
- Cheesecake Factory increased its quarterly dividend to $0.30 (from $0.27), payable March 17 with an annualized payout of $1.20 and a yield of about 1.8%.
- The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.00 vs. $0.98) with revenue of $961.6M, its stock traded around $65.60 (down ~0.5% intraday), and analysts maintain an average "Hold" rating with a $61.81 price target.
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) Director Alexander Cappello sold 635 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $40,474.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $393,339.54. The trade was a 9.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.
Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 0.5%
Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $65.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 298,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,429,350. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $42.69 and a 1 year high of $69.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $57.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.13.
Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $961.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $949.03 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.68% and a net margin of 3.96%.Cheesecake Factory's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.
Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. This is an increase from Cheesecake Factory's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is currently 35.18%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
CAKE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho set a $75.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Stephens downgraded Cheesecake Factory from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.81.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on CAKE
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,771,000 after buying an additional 564,744 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $112,401,000 after buying an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $25,850,000 after buying an additional 349,168 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $14,499,000 after acquiring an additional 270,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $40,819,000 after purchasing an additional 262,081 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Cheesecake Factory Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.
The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.
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