Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings results and increased its quarterly dividend.

Sales grew 6.8% Y/Y to $2.957 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.975 billion. Consolidated same-restaurant sales for the quarter remained flat. Adjusted EPS of $2.65 topped the consensus of $2.62, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Darden's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.40 per share, a 6.9% Q/Q, payable on August 1, to shareholders of record as of July 10.

For FY25, Darden said it sees EPS from continuing operations of $9.40-$9.60 (estimate $9.56) and sales of $11.8 billion-$11.9 billion vs. street view of $11.948 billion. The company also expects same-restaurant sales growth of 1.0% to 2.0% and new restaurant openings of 45 to 50.

Darden's shares rose 1.5% to close at $154.29 on Thursday.

These analysts made changes to their price targets on Darden after the company reported quarterly results.

• Stifel cut the price target on Darden from $190 to $180. Stifel analyst Chris O'Cull maintained a Buy rating.
• B of A Securities raised Darden price target from $180 to $185. B of A Securities analyst Sara Senatore maintained a Buy rating.
• Stephens & Co. analyst Jim Salera, meanwhile, reiterated Darden with an Equal-Weight and maintained a price target of $165.