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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s 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

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. The business 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 cap of $20.31 billion, a PE 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.28.

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.