Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.08 EPS

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 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 Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded down $2.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $170.17. The stock had a trading volume of 2,870,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,463. The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.90 and a 200 day moving average of $153.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.28.

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.