Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants updated its FY25 guidance to $9.40-$9.60 EPS.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $153.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $150.69 and a 200-day moving average of $159.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.50%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.76.

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.