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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) posted its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $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 Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $170.17. 2,870,952 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,237,463. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $150.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Argus decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.28.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.