Darden Restaurants (DRI) Projected to Post Earnings on Thursday

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) is projected to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, March 20th. Analysts expect Darden Restaurants to post earnings of $2.82 per share and revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.400-9.600 EPS and its FY25 guidance at $9.40-$9.60 EPS.Individual interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. On average, analysts expect Darden Restaurants to post $10 EPS for the current fiscal year and $11 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $188.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.07. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.00.

About Darden Restaurants

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.