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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 9.400-9.600 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $173.81.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $154.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $150.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.73.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.