Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Releases FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 9.400-9.600 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 9.550. The company issued revenue guidance of $11.8 billion-$11.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.9 billion.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $153.28 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.50%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reissued a buy rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.76.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total value of $1,270,034.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.