Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Releases Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80, Zacks reports. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $199.18 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.12. The stock has a market cap of $23.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.15.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.33.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.