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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 9.450-9.520 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 9.480. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.1 billion-$12.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $12.1 billion.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.33.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $188.11 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $191.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.15. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.82 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s 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 $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was 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. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 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.