Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Updates FY25 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $9.45-$9.52 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $9.48. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $12.09 billion. Darden Restaurants also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 9.450-9.520 EPS.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 5.6 %

NYSE DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.33.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.