Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Releases FY 2027 Earnings Guidance

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) updated its FY 2027 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 11.100-11.350 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 11.280. The company issued revenue guidance of -, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.7 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Argus increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.38.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock traded down $2.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $196.78. The company had a trading volume of 579,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,340,081. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $229.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $212.04 and its 200 day moving average is $204.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 24th. The restaurant operator reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.05. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.21 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.85% and a return on equity of 58.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 11.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. The trade was a 32.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984 over the last 90 days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.