Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter FY24 adjusted EPS results and increased quarterly dividend.

Sales grew 6.8% Y/Y to $2.957 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.975 billion.

Sales growth was driven by the addition of 80 company-owned Ruth’s Chris Steak House restaurants and 37 other net new restaurants. Consolidated same-restaurant sales for the quarter remained flat. Adjusted EPS of $2.65 topped the consensus of $2.62.

Darden generated an operating cash flow of $1.62 billion for the year. As of May 26, it held $220.1 million in cash and equivalents and inventories of $290.5 million.

Dividend Increase: 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.

During the quarter, the company repurchased approximately 0.6 million shares of its common stock for approximately $97.3 million. At the end of the fiscal fourth quarter, the company had about $915 million remaining under its current $1 billion repurchase authorization.

FY25 Outlook: Darden 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.

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF (NYSE:EATZ) and First Trust Dorsey Wright Momentum & Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:DDIV).

Price Action: DRI shares are up 2.25% at $155.38 at the last check Thursday.

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