Everence Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,910 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,620 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cheesecake Factory were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 9.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,595 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after purchasing an additional 22,416 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,549 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,365,000 after purchasing an additional 12,493 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the third quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the third quarter valued at approximately $628,000. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE opened at $50.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $31.24 and a 52-week high of $52.10.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The restaurant operator reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 43.90% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $865.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 41.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CAKE. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.40.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 13,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $653,178.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,052.76. This represents a 46.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.