Darden Restaurants (DRI) Tops Q2 EPS by 12c, Sales Roughly In-Line

Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) reported Q2 EPS of $0.54, $0.12 better than the analyst estimate of $0.42. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.61 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion.

Same-restaurant sales increased 1.6% for the fiscal quarter.

"We saw continued momentum this quarter, with all our brands once again posting positive same-restaurant sales growth and delivering meaningful margin improvement," said CEO Gene Lee. "These results reflect our continuous focus on operating great restaurants and leveraging our competitive advantages to drive sales and profitability."

Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, or $2 annualized. This is a 9.1% decrease from the prior dividend of $0.55. The dividend is a 14% increase compared to the minimum quarterly dividend of $0.4375 disclosed on November 9, 2015. The dividend will be payable on February 1, 2016, to stockholders of record on January 8, 2016, with an ex-dividend date of January 6, 2016. The annual yield on the dividend is 3.4 percent.

In addition, Darden's Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program under which the Company may repurchase up to $500 million of its outstanding common stock. This repurchase program does not have an expiration and replaces all other outstanding share repurchase authorizations. This represents approximately 6.7% of the Company's outstanding shares based on the last trading day of the quarter.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Darden Restaurants (DRI) click here.

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