Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) updated its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of $9.40-9.60 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $9.48. Darden Restaurants also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 9.400-9.600 EPS.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $159.14 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $149.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.35. The firm has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $170.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, 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. 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.