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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. 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 Trading Up 7.5 %

Shares of DRI stock traded up $14.06 on Thursday, hitting $202.21. The stock had a trading volume of 771,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,989. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $191.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.15.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lifted 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.