Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target Raised to $51.00 at Citigroup

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $46.00 to $51.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 19.72% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CAKE. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.42.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $42.60 on Friday. Cheesecake Factory has a 1 year low of $28.63 and a 1 year high of $42.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.28 and its 200 day moving average is $37.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $904.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.19 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 231.4% in the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 30,086 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 21,007 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 1st quarter valued at $1,108,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 40,881 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the period. 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.