Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Issues Earnings Results, Hits Estimates

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 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 Trading Up 14.7 %

NYSE DRI traded up $23.57 during trading on Thursday, hitting $183.44. 4,765,794 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,242,947. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $166.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.99. The firm has a market cap of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $188.82.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $180.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.