Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Updates FY25 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) updated its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $9.45-$9.52 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target 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, Raymond James lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.33.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $188.11 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $191.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.