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

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 140.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,064 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 15,242 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $1,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 3,343.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,102 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 170.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,164 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,568 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $53.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued 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 price target of $61.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 635 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $40,474.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,171 shares in the company, valued at $393,339.54. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Spero G. Alex sold 4,790 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.00, for a total transaction of $316,140.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 20,582 shares of company stock worth $1,337,936 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $55.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $43.00 and a fifty-two week high of $69.70.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $961.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company posted $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

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