20,300 Shares in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Cheesecake Factory, buying 20,300 shares valued at about $1.11 million in the first quarter.
• Cheesecake Factory reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $1.05 EPS versus the $1.03 consensus and revenue of $978.83 million, up 5.6% year over year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $66.29.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,300 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,111,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,187 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,487 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,642 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 2,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.90, for a total transaction of $161,601.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $400,497.90. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 104,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $6,346,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,079,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,928,114.58. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 8.00% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $79.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.01. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 12-month low of $43.07 and a 12-month high of $80.93. The firm's fifty day moving average is $67.65 and its 200 day moving average is $61.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 43.74%. The business had revenue of $978.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $964.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered Cheesecake Factory from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.29.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

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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