Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Purchases New Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,530 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,076,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 92.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,594 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $263,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $636,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,367,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,067,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CAKE shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Cheesecake Factory to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $72.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President David M. Gordon sold 31,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.03, for a total value of $3,515,458.50. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 26,875 shares in the company, valued at $2,957,056.25. This represents a 54.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 94,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.27, for a total transaction of $10,004,789.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 213,749 shares of company stock valued at $22,301,899. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $108.36 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.99.

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

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.