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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03, RTT News reports. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $183.44 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $188.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.99.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,448. The trade was a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 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.