KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $489,000 Investment in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 597,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,245,000 after acquiring an additional 6,872 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $223,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,090 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter worth $329,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 9.4 %

CAKE opened at $46.79 on Friday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during 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%. Analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CAKE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.38.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.