30,645 Shares in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Acquired by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 30,645 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1492 Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 32,015 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,140 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2,360.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 689 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CAKE shares. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup raised Cheesecake Factory from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $38.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.58.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CAKE traded down $0.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $37.22. 568,088 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 834,819. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.99 and its 200 day moving average is $35.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.51. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $28.58 and a fifty-two week high of $41.25.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The restaurant operator reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $891.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $890.49 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 42.15% and a net margin of 3.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.54%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other news, insider Keith Carango sold 3,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total value of $151,778.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,125,687.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.