South Dakota Investment Council Makes New $844,000 Investment in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

South Dakota Investment Council purchased a new position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 24,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAKE. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 107,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,248,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3.4% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 13,081 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 2.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 74,707 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 2.1% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 36,692 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE opened at $34.88 on Friday. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52-week low of $28.58 and a 52-week high of $38.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.48.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 41.66%. The company had revenue of $877.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $876.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 52.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAKE. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.64.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.