The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Short Interest Update

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,130,000 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the February 13th total of 6,760,000 shares. Approximately 17.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of Cheesecake Factory stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,131,162.76. The trade was a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter valued at $973,000. Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,401,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,718 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,112,000 after purchasing an additional 32,000 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after purchasing an additional 22,416 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 252.6% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 22,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 16,300 shares in the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE stock traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $46.59. 494,415 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,127,359. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $33.05 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The business had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cheesecake Factory will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is presently 33.75%.

Cheesecake Factory Company 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.