SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 15,242 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 140.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,064 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,242 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Cheesecake Factory worth $1,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,771,000 after purchasing an additional 564,744 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,401,000 after purchasing an additional 407,223 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 747,046 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,819,000 after purchasing an additional 262,081 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,455,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,050,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CAKE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Spero G. Alex sold 4,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.00, for a total transaction of $316,140.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.70, for a total transaction of $459,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,896,713. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,582 shares of company stock worth $1,337,936. 8.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 2.2%

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $55.78 on Wednesday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a twelve month low of $43.00 and a twelve month high of $69.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.96% and a return on equity of 45.68%. The firm had revenue of $961.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $949.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 39.09%.

Cheesecake Factory Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.