The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE Holdings Lessened by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 626,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 19,900 shares during the period. Cheesecake Factory makes up 2.4% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 1.26% of Cheesecake Factory worth $65,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,242,143 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $68,008,000 after purchasing an additional 29,037 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at $38,020,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at $35,793,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter valued at about $13,792,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at about $13,743,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CAKE shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $101.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.47.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Director Alexander Cappello sold 425 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.71, for a total transaction of $48,326.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $389,797.88. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Janice L. Meyer sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.36, for a total value of $214,126.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,324,009.36. This represents a 8.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 158,313 shares of company stock valued at $17,146,143 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $112.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $43.07 and a 52-week high of $118.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.68.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The restaurant operator reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.06. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 46.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.44%.

Key Headlines Impacting Cheesecake Factory

Here are the key news stories impacting Cheesecake Factory this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter results showed solid momentum: total revenue exceeded $1.033 billion, and flagship restaurant guest traffic rose 9.5%. The company also surpassed consensus estimates for both revenue and earnings, suggesting continued customer demand. Cheesecake Factory: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded CAKE from “hold” to “strong-buy,” providing a bullish counterpoint to the day’s more cautious research. Freedom Capital analyst action
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced an opening date for a new location at West County Mall, indicating continued unit expansion, although the financial impact is likely limited in the near term. Cheesecake Factory sets opening date
• Neutral Sentiment: Barack Obama’s repeated Cheesecake Factory references have generated substantial media attention and may increase brand visibility, but the political dispute does not appear to change the company’s earnings outlook or operations. Seth Meyers praises Obama
• Neutral Sentiment: Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating, signaling that the firm sees limited near-term outperformance despite CAKE’s strong operating results. Stephens reaffirms Equal Weight rating
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded CAKE from “strong-buy” to “hold.” The stock also crossed below its 50-day moving average following the downgrade, reinforcing near-term technical and valuation concerns. Cheesecake Factory stock crosses below 50-day moving average

Cheesecake Factory Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is a restaurant company best known for The Cheesecake Factory, a full-service casual dining brand offering an extensive menu of American and international-inspired dishes, along with a broad selection of cheesecakes and other desserts. The company also operates North Italia, an Italian restaurant concept, and owns Fox Restaurant Concepts, which develops and operates additional restaurant brands, including Flower Child and Culinary Dropout.

The company was founded by David Overton, who opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, in 1978 after his parents began a cheesecake business.