Darden Restaurants (DRI) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

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

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

Shares of DRI stock opened at $161.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.41.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other 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 transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the 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 directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.18.

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.