The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE Shares Bought by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC has increased its stake in The Cheesecake Factory to approximately 5.44%, valuing the investment at $131.14 million.
• Insider transactions show significant selling activity, with President David M. Gordon decreasing his ownership by 63.85% after selling over 43,000 shares.
• The Cheesecake Factory reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings per share of $1.16, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.06, and has announced a dividend of $0.27 per share.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,695,031 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after purchasing an additional 5,640 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 5.44% of Cheesecake Factory worth $131,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $64.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.94.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,806 shares in the company, valued at $448,379.28. The trade was a 64.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President David M. Gordon sold 43,335 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.06, for a total transaction of $2,732,705.10. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 24,532 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,987.92. This represents a 63.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,523 shares of company stock worth $4,654,643 over the last ninety days. 8.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

NASDAQ:CAKE traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.12. 346,452 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,445,654. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $63.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.53. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $35.40 and a 1 year high of $69.70. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

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

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.