Ruffer LLP Acquires 114,867 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP significantly increased its stake in The Cheesecake Factory by 58.0% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 313,046 shares valued at approximately $15.2 million.
• Cheesecake Factory's stock has a current consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price averaging $61.06, while several analysts have recently adjusted their price targets upward.
• The company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Ruffer LLP raised its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) by 58.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 313,046 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 114,867 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP owned approximately 0.63% of Cheesecake Factory worth $15,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 7,507 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,954 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,611,000 after buying an additional 12,370 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,772 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $6,513,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at $56,288,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total transaction of $1,105,816.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,331.04. This trade represents a 45.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $448,379.28. This trade represents a 64.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 145,388 shares of company stock valued at $8,273,113. 8.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.19. The stock had a trading volume of 701,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,203. The company's fifty day moving average is $61.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $35.12 and a 52 week high of $69.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 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, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders 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 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is currently 33.23%.

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.