DRI - Darden Restaurants: An Appetizing Dividend Growth Stock

2024-04-22 09:28:31 ET

Summary

• Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, faces challenges in a tough industry with rising food and labor costs.
• Darden's scale advantage and strong performance in foot traffic and comparable sales help to insulate the company from the worst consequences of the current environment.
• The recent acquisition of Ruth's Chris and Darden's focus on fine dining establishments are expected to increase margins and drive growth for the company.

Darden Restaurants ( DRI ), the parent company of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, as well as half a dozen other restaurant chains, is the largest operator in a very tough industry. Furthermore, the current environment is more difficult than the norm.

As of this February, the consumer price index pegged food away from home prices as up 4.5% from the prior year....

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