Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases New Stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 29,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,367,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 28,742 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 92,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,509,000 after purchasing an additional 21,887 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 109,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,343,000 after purchasing an additional 8,592 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 32.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 5.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 112,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,326 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $107.58 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $43.07 and a 1 year high of $118.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.01.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.54 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.97% and a net margin of 4.61%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cheesecake Factory news, EVP Scarlett May sold 7,978 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.66, for a total transaction of $819,021.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,872,621.06. The trade was a 30.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 94,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.27, for a total value of $10,004,789.15. Following the sale, the chairman owned 89,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,543,577.35. This represents a 51.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 213,749 shares of company stock worth $22,301,899 over the last quarter. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on CAKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Argus lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.47.

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.