Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Releases FY25 Earnings Guidance

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.87.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 8.3 %

DRI opened at $172.27 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $149.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.39. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants 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 owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.