Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80, Zacks reports. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants updated its FY 2025 guidance to 9.450-9.520 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $9.45-$9.52 EPS.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.47. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average is $176.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.