Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 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 Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $170.17. 2,870,952 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,237,463. The company has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.52.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.28.

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.