Hennessy Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,211,900 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 118,500 shares during the period. Cheesecake Factory comprises about 2.0% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 2.35% of Cheesecake Factory worth $58,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAKE. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 208.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAKE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Keith Carango sold 50,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $2,783,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,145,062.88. This represents a 70.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Scarlett May sold 18,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.82, for a total value of $1,105,816.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,345,331.04. The trade was a 45.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,456,992 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $57.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $33.50 and a 52 week high of $59.45.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $927.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $927.17 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%. Cheesecake Factory’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 14th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Cheesecake Factory 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.