Darden Restaurants (DRI) Stock Price, Fundamentals & Analysis

What DRI does

Darden Restaurants (DRI) is a large restaurant operator that owns and runs full-service dining locations across the United States and Canada. It manages well-known brands such as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Chuy's, Yard House, Ruth's Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, Bahama Breeze, The Capital Burger, and Darden Restaurants. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the company is part of the S&P 500 and sits in the Consumer Cyclical sector.

Key numbers explained

• 213.69 USD is the current share price, the amount you would pay for one share at this moment.
• The trailing P/E ratio of 20.5 shows how much investors pay per dollar of the company's last 12 months of earnings; a lower number can suggest a cheaper valuation relative to earnings.
• The forward P/E ratio of 17.2 uses expected future earnings, which can be more relevant for growth-oriented investors.
• 10.44 USD is the earnings per share (EPS) for the trailing 12 months, representing the portion of profit allocated to each outstanding share.
• The dividend yield of 3.03% indicates the annual dividend payment as a percentage of the current share price, a common measure for income-focused investors.
• The ex-dividend date of Jul 10, 2026 is the cutoff: you must own the stock before this date to receive the next dividend payment.
• 57% of earnings are paid out as dividends, showing the company returns more than half of its profit to shareholders.
• A beta of 0.59 suggests the stock tends to be less volatile than the overall market.

Recent news

Recent headlines note that Darden sales momentum has strengthened despite a broader casual-dining slowdown, and that the company's Q3 earnings report is drawing attention ahead of the next results. Other stories in the feed highlight a strong rally in a peer restaurant stock and broader market moves driven by yields and major corporate reports.

What to watch

For a stock like Darden Restaurants, investors typically monitor consumer spending trends, commodity costs (especially beef and other food inputs), and labour expenses, which can squeeze margins in the restaurant industry. The company's same-store sales growth, brand-level performance across its portfolio, and the upcoming earnings report on Sep 24, 2026 are standard points of focus. Broader factors such as interest rates and inflation also matter, as they affect both consumer behaviour and the company's cost of capital.