Darden Restaurants, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.50 (NYSE:DRI)

by · The Markets Daily

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of 1.50 per share by the restaurant operator on Monday, February 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th.

Darden Restaurants has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 4 years. Darden Restaurants has a payout ratio of 52.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Darden Restaurants to earn $10.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.4%.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded up $3.17 on Thursday, reaching $192.70. 3,746,446 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,330,978. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $179.97 and a 200-day moving average of $198.17. The firm has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.39.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on DRI

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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