Darden Restaurants (DRI) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Thursday

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, September 19th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $1.84 per share for the quarter. Darden Restaurants has set its FY25 guidance at $9.40-$9.60 EPS.Individual interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Darden Restaurants to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $10 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $160.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.41. The company has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G 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 Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Stephens lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $159.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.18.

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.