Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in The Cheesecake Factory by 48.9%, purchasing an additional 16,266 shares to own a total of 49,562 shares worth approximately $2.41 million.
• Insider sales were significant, with the CFO selling 42,900 shares and a director selling 12,388 shares, leading to a decrease in insider ownership.
• The Cheesecake Factory recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with a payout ratio of 33.23% and an annualized yield of 1.7%.

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 48.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,562 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 16,266 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned about 0.10% of Cheesecake Factory worth $2,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,288,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $85,940,000 after buying an additional 689,784 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,827,000. JCP Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 181.3% in the fourth quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 667,210 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $31,652,000 after buying an additional 430,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1,896.7% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 231,078 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $10,962,000 after buying an additional 219,505 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 0.6%

CAKE stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $61.54. 1,497,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,744,523. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $35.12 and a 1-year high of $69.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $61.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.75. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.17.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $955.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 45.92%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,289,168. The trade was a 51.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total transaction of $816,121.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,806 shares in the company, valued at $448,379.28. This represents a 64.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 145,388 shares of company stock valued at $8,273,113. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.