Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) EVP Scarlett May Sells 5,206 Shares

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) EVP Scarlett May sold 5,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.95, for a total value of $327,717.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,759.25. The trade was a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 3.0%

NASDAQ CAKE traded down $1.79 on Thursday, reaching $58.83. The company had a trading volume of 147,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,377,415. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1 year low of $42.69 and a 1 year high of $69.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.28 and a 200-day moving average of $55.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.97.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $961.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $949.03 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 3.96% and a return on equity of 45.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This is an increase from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $53.00 price target on Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Stephens downgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.81.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,337,671 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $118,006,000 after buying an additional 280,553 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 80,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after acquiring an additional 41,034 shares during the period. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,027,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $730,000. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Company 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.