Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,087 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CAKE. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 40,665 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,929,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,100 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,507 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 26,528 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock traded up $0.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,408,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,257,505. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $58.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.19. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $65.99. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.06% and a net margin of 4.33%. The company had revenue of $927.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $927.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 40,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,289,168. This represents 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, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $2,783,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,145,062.88. The trade was a 70.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,000 shares of company stock worth $7,456,992 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus set a $60.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.38.

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.