Truist Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 77,660 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after purchasing an additional 4,053 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,110 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $937,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,364,000 after buying an additional 22,416 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 3rd quarter worth $395,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $50.25 on Wednesday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a one year low of $33.05 and a one year high of $57.32. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $51.75 and a 200-day moving average of $46.43.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were 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 $164,131,162.76. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.