Driehaus Capital Management LLC Invests $47.72 Million in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Key Points

• Driehaus Capital Management LLC has acquired 980,682 shares of The Cheesecake Factory, valued at approximately $47.7 million, representing an ownership stake of about 1.98%.
• Insider transactions revealed significant stock sales, with Director Alexander L. Cappello and President David M. Gordon reducing their holdings by over 63%, indicating potential concerns about the stock’s near-term outlook.
• Wall Street analysts have varied price targets for Cheesecake Factory, with an average target price of $61.94 and a consensus rating of "Hold," reflecting mixed views on the stock's future performance.

Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 980,682 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $47,720,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned about 1.98% of Cheesecake Factory as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the first quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 24.4% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total value of $1,105,816.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,345,331.04. The trade was a 45.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total value of $816,121.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at $448,379.28. The trade was a 64.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,523 shares of company stock valued at $4,654,643 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAKE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus set a $60.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.94.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.58 during trading on Monday, reaching $61.46. 812,183 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,301,204. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $63.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.65. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $35.40 and a 1 year high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $955.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $945.82 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.92% and a net margin of 4.33%.Cheesecake Factory's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.23%.

Cheesecake Factory 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.