16,548 Shares in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Purchased by GSA Capital Partners LLP

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired 16,548 shares of The Cheesecake Factory, valued at approximately $805,000, highlighting institutional interest in the stock.
• Analysts have varied ratings for the stock, with a consensus target price of $61.06, indicating it has a mix of "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings from different firms.
• The Cheesecake Factory recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $1.16, surpassing analyst estimates of $1.06, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27.

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,548 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $805,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CAKE. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 70,748.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 21,963 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 21,932 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 38,646 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 4,692 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,121 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.1% during the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 56,080 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 48.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 49,562 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 16,266 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CAKE. Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $67.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer upped 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. Finally, Argus set a $60.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.06.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock traded down $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,941,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,642,107. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $61.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.37. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $33.50 and a 52-week high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.10. The firm 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 46.15%. Cheesecake Factory's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $2,783,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,774 shares in the company, valued at $1,145,062.88. This trade represents a 70.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total value of $816,121.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,806 shares in the company, valued at $448,379.28. The trade was a 64.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 145,388 shares of company stock valued at $8,273,113. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

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.