Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Issues Earnings Results, Hits Estimates

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants updated its FY 2025 guidance to 9.400-9.600 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $9.40-$9.60 EPS.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $159.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $177.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.46.

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.