Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.62

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share by the restaurant operator on Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th.

Darden Restaurants has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.3%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Darden Restaurants has a payout ratio of 56.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Darden Restaurants to earn $12.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.2%.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 3.2%

DRI stock traded down $6.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $206.83. 1,953,615 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,341,457. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $229.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $211.90 and a 200-day moving average of $204.73.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The restaurant operator reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.21 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 11.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc (NYSE: DRI) is a full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It operates and franchises a portfolio of dining brands serving a range of cuisines, price points and occasions, with restaurants primarily located in the United States and select international markets.

Its restaurant portfolio includes Olive Garden, an Italian-American dining chain; LongHorn Steakhouse; Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen; Yard House; The Capital Grille; Seasons 52; Bahama Breeze; Eddie V’s; Ruth’s Chris Steak House; and Chuy’s.