Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemDarden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 10.570-10.674 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 10.570. The company issued revenue guidance of $13.2 billion-$13.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.2 billion.
Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.4%
Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $0.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $196.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,231,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,535,906. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $205.35 and its 200 day moving average is $193.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.49%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.24.
View Our Latest Stock Report on DRI
Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants
In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 19,070 shares of company stock valued at $4,007,266 over the last three months. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,486,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,301,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $346,756,000 after acquiring an additional 563,237 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 239.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $157,490,000 after acquiring an additional 509,655 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 198.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 582,585 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $107,207,000 after acquiring an additional 387,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.
Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.