Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.08 EPS

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

DRI stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.52. The company has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84.

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 paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.