Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and set a $159.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to an underperform rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $170.18.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of DRI opened at $159.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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

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.