Palisade Capital Management LP Takes Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Palisade Capital Management LP acquired a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 125,898 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $10,014,000. Palisade Capital Management LP owned about 0.25% of Cheesecake Factory as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,771,000 after purchasing an additional 564,744 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,020,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $112,401,000 after buying an additional 407,223 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,850,000 after buying an additional 349,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,499,000 after buying an additional 270,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 1.0%

CAKE stock opened at $113.49 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $43.07 and a 52-week high of $118.46. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.00.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.26. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.97% and a net margin of 4.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $999.54 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CAKE. Stephens restated a “positive” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edie A. Ames sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.95, for a total value of $320,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,500. The trade was a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Janice L. Meyer sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 21,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,324,009.36. The trade was a 8.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 216,239 shares of company stock valued at $22,463,500 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

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.