Premier Fund Managers Ltd Invests $713,000 in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 15,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $713,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAKE has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.38.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $51.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.44. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 1-year low of $33.05 and a 1-year high of $57.32.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operates and licenses restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates bakeries that produce cheesecakes and other baked products for its restaurants, international licensees, third-party bakery customers, external foodservice operators, retailers, and distributors.