Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) updated its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of $9.40-$9.60 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $9.52. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.8-$11.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.94 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. BTIG Research raised Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and issued a $167.00 price objective (down from $175.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $173.81.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded up $2.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $154.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,727,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,096. The company has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.70 and a 200-day moving average of $159.73. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

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.