William Blair Issues Positive Outlook for CAKE Earnings

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) – Equities research analysts at William Blair boosted their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report issued on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $1.05 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.04. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cheesecake Factory’s current full-year earnings is $3.71 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Cheesecake Factory’s FY2025 earnings at $3.70 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on 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 upped their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $54.03 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $33.05 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total transaction of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total value of $1,553,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This trade represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

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.