Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 90,894 Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 525,808 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 90,894 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 1.03% of Cheesecake Factory worth $20,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $290,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 409,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,091,000 after acquiring an additional 9,450 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the second quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Wealth Alliance bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,772,000 after purchasing an additional 43,128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAKE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cheesecake Factory presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.08.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $39.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.29. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $28.58 and a 52 week high of $41.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.50.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The restaurant operator reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $904.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $909.19 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.62% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 49.54%.

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.