Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $9.45-$9.52 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $9.48. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $12.09 billion. Darden Restaurants also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 9.450-9.520 EPS.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $188.11 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.15. The company has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.33.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.