Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated $CAKE

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its stake in The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,274,487 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 283,150 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 2.56% of Cheesecake Factory worth $79,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 632 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 38.5% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,244 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the first quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter worth $137,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $44.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.28. The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has a 52 week low of $42.69 and a 52 week high of $69.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.08.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The restaurant operator reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $907.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $912.95 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.33% and a return on equity of 47.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is 32.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on CAKE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $65.00 price objective on Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.18.

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.