Darden Restaurants Company Profile (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "DRI."

Darden Restaurants announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share on Wednesday, November 1st. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 6th. View Darden Restaurants' Dividend History.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September, 26th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 26.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. View Darden Restaurants' Earnings History.

Darden Restaurants is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Monday, December, 18th 2017. View Earnings Estimates for Darden Restaurants.

Darden Restaurants updated its FY18 earnings guidance on Tuesday, September, 26th. The company provided EPS guidance of 4.38-4.50 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $4.47. The company issued revenue guidance of +11.5-13.0% to ~$7.99-8.10 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $8.03 billion.

24 equities research analysts have issued 1-year price targets for Darden Restaurants' shares. Their forecasts range from $69.00 to $100.00. On average, they expect Darden Restaurants' share price to reach $87.29 in the next year. View Analyst Ratings for Darden Restaurants.

Here are some recent quotes from research analysts about Darden Restaurants stock:

• 1. According to Zacks Investment Research, "Darden posted solid first-quarter fiscal 2018 results with the bottom and the top line surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. In fact, the reported quarter marked the 12th successive earnings beat for the company. Going forward, various sales initiatives and technology-driven moves are expected to boost the top line. Additionally, efforts to attract guests at Olive Garden, LongHorn and other units, along with the cost saving measures are encouraging. However, Darden’s shares underperformed its industry in the past six months. A soft consumer spending environment might keep comps under pressure, while rising labor costs and a non-franchised business model are likely to dampen the company’s profits, moving ahead." (10/17/2017)
• 2. Robert W. Baird analysts commented, "compelling entry point." The firm's David Tarantino upgrades Darden's stock rating from Neutral to Outperform with an unchanged $94 price target.Darden's stock has lost more than 15 percent over the past three months, which makes its current valuation more attractive, Tarantino explained in his upgrade note. Specifically, the stock's current next-twelve-months (NTM) EV/EBITDA and P/E multiples are sitting 4–9 percent below their respective one year averages.While many investors are likely concerned with Darden's same-store sales outlook in the struggling casual dining industry, the company is well positioned to deliver above-average performance, the analyst noted. In fact, Darden can perform well in the restaurant sector even if overall industry trends don't improve — although it would likely imply upside to estimates.Meanwhile, management remains focused on simplifying its operations, which lead to a better service and execution and also improve the value proposition of its brands through scale advantages and quality upgrades."We believe further evidence of solid top- and bottom-line fundamentals in upcoming periods can lead to improved investor sentiment and support a return to higher valuation metrics on the shares following the recent pullback," (9/27/2017)
• 3. Maxim Group analysts commented, "We maintain our Hold rating on Darden Restaurants (DRI), though raise our price target to $90, from $87 ahead of the release of F4Q17 (May) earnings on Tuesday, June 27." (6/21/2017)
• 4. Wells Fargo & Co analysts commented, "Olive Garden's healthy share gains persist, but we remain on the sideline with DRI shares trading at almost 9.5x EBITDA and now incrementally levered (through the Cheddar's acquisition) to a structurally challenged casual dining segment. DRI reported F3Q EPS of $1.32, +9% Y/Y and above the $1.27 Street estimate. Blended SSS were +0.9%, handily outpacing the +0.3% Street number. By concept, the core Olive Garden posted +1.4% SSS, ahead of the Street estimate and in line with the 400bps of average SSS outperformance (vs the casual dining peer group) seen over the last 4 quarters. LongHorn's SSS were +0.2%, ahead of the -0.1% Street estimate and just above the 250bps outperformance seen over the last 4 quarters. The FY17 EPS guidance range was increased to $3.95-4.00 from $3.87-3.94 (Street at $3.94) with a minor bump in EPS driven by (based on our model) a more modest level of labor cost pressure. Raising FY17E EPS to $4.00 from $3.95 and FY18E to $4.32 from $4.24. Model does not reflect potential acquisition accretion." (3/28/2017)
• 5. Canaccord Genuity analysts commented, "We recently hosted an investor dinner with Darden Restaurants’ management team: Gene Lee (President & CEO), Rick Cardenas (CFO), David George (President of Olive Garden), Todd Burrowes (President of LongHorn Steakhouse) and Kevin Kalicak (IR). Following the meeting, we are increasingly confident in our BUY thesis. While the industry backdrop remains challenging given the slowdown in restaurant sales and labor inflation, we remain confident in DRI’s ability to drive continued market share gains via an improved guest experience, off-premise, menu innovation and Olive Garden remodels." (1/12/2017)

Some companies that are related to Darden Restaurants include Restaurant Brands International (QSR), Whitbread plc (WTB), Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL), Papa John's Int'l (PZZA), Bloomin' Brands (BLMN), Greene King plc (GNK), Greggs plc (GRG), Mitchells & Butlers plc (MAB), Shake Shack (SHAK), Denny's Corporation (DENN), DineEquity (DIN), Biglari Holdings (BH), Young & Co.'s Brewery plc (YNGA), Marston's PLC (MARS), Restaurant Group PLC (RTN), Young & Co.'s Brewery plc (YNGN), Fuller, Smith & Turner plc (FSTA) and Fiesta Restaurant Group (FRGI).

Darden Restaurants' management team includes the folowing people:

• Charles M. Sonsteby, Independent Chairman of the Board
• Eugene I. Lee Jr., President, Chief Executive Officer, Director
• Ricardo Cardenas, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President
• Todd A. Burrowes, President - LongHorn Steakhouse
• David C. George, President - Olive Garden and Executive Vice President
• Sarah H. King, Chief Human Resource Officer, Vice President
• Matthew R. Broad, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary
• John W. Madonna, Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller
• Margaret Shan Atkins, Independent Director
• Bradley D. Blum, Independent Director

Darden Restaurants' stock is owned by a number of of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional investors include Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (1.07%), PGGM Investments (0.43%), Shell Asset Management Co. (0.04%), Assenagon Asset Management S.A. (0.03%), Exane Derivatives (0.02%) and Meeder Asset Management Inc. (0.01%). Company insiders that own Darden Restaurants stock include Alan N Stillman, Danielle L Kirgan, David C George, Eugene I Lee Jr, Eugene I Lee, Jr, James P Fogarty and Jeffrey C Smith. View Institutional Ownership Trends for Darden Restaurants.

Darden Restaurants' stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Meeder Asset Management Inc. and Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC. Company insiders that have sold Darden Restaurants stock in the last year include David C George and Eugene I Lee Jr. View Insider Buying and Selling for Darden Restaurants.

Darden Restaurants' stock was bought by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V., Assenagon Asset Management S.A., Shell Asset Management Co., PGGM Investments, Alpha Windward LLC, Exane Derivatives and Fulton Bank N.A.. View Insider Buying and Selling for Darden Restaurants.

Shares of Darden Restaurants can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Scottrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab.

One share of Darden Restaurants stock can currently be purchased for approximately $82.77.