Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Issues Earnings Results

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants updated its FY 2025 guidance to 9.450-9.520 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $9.45-$9.52 EPS.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $8.91 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $208.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,129,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,964. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $210.31. 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 cap of $24.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50 day moving average is $192.60 and its 200-day moving average is $177.21.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $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 sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.08.

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.