Darden Restaurants Management

Management criteria checks 2/4

Darden Restaurants' CEO is Rick Cardenas, appointed in Jan 2021, has a tenure of 3.92 years. total yearly compensation is $12.00M, comprised of 9% salary and 91% bonuses, including company stock and options. directly owns 0.05% of the company’s shares, worth €10.53M. The average tenure of the management team and the board of directors is 7.3 years and 9.1 years respectively.

Key information

Rick Cardenas

Chief executive officer

US$12.0m

Total compensation

CEO salary percentage	9.0%
CEO tenure	3.9yrs
CEO ownership	0.05%
Management average tenure	7.3yrs
Board average tenure	9.1yrs

Recent management updates

Recent updates

CEO Compensation Analysis

How has Rick Cardenas's remuneration changed compared to Darden Restaurants's earnings?
Date	Total Compensation	Salary	Company Earnings
Nov 24 2024	n/a	n/a	US$1b
Aug 25 2024	n/a	n/a	US$1b
May 26 2024	US$12m	US$1m	US$1b
Feb 25 2024	n/a	n/a	US$1b
Nov 26 2023	n/a	n/a	US$1b
Aug 27 2023	n/a	n/a	US$985m
May 28 2023	US$9m	US$1m	US$984m
Feb 26 2023	n/a	n/a	US$950m
Nov 27 2022	n/a	n/a	US$911m
Aug 28 2022	n/a	n/a	US$917m
May 29 2022	US$5m	US$796k	US$955m
Feb 27 2022	n/a	n/a	US$1b
Nov 28 2021	n/a	n/a	US$923m
Aug 29 2021	n/a	n/a	US$827m
May 30 2021	US$4m	US$745k	US$632m
Feb 28 2021	n/a	n/a	-US$216m
Nov 29 2020	n/a	n/a	-US$112m
Aug 30 2020	n/a	n/a	-US$184m
May 31 2020	US$3m	US$686k	-US$49m
Feb 23 2020	n/a	n/a	US$639m
Nov 24 2019	n/a	n/a	US$631m
Aug 25 2019	n/a	n/a	US$722m
May 26 2019	US$3m	US$687k	US$719m
Feb 24 2019	n/a	n/a	US$685m
Nov 25 2018	n/a	n/a	US$679m
Aug 26 2018	n/a	n/a	US$651m
May 27 2018	US$3m	US$614k	US$604m

Compensation vs Market: Rick's total compensation ($USD12.00M) is above average for companies of similar size in the German market ($USD4.85M).

Compensation vs Earnings: Rick's compensation has increased by more than 20% in the past year.

CEO

Rick Cardenas (56 yo)

3.9yrs

Tenure

US$12,004,427

Compensation

Mr. Ricardo Cardenas, also known as Rick, serves as President at Darden Restaurants, Inc. since January 4, 2021 and its Chief Executive Officer and Director since May 30, 2022 and served as its Chief Opera...

Leadership Team

Name	Position	Tenure	Compensation	Ownership
Ricardo Cardenas	CEO, President & Director	3.9yrs	US$12.00m	0.050% € 10.5m
Rajesh Vennam	Senior VP & CFO	3.9yrs	US$3.86m	0.0087% € 1.8m
Matthew Broad	Senior VP	9.2yrs	US$3.02m	0.012% € 2.6m
Todd Burrowes	President of Business Development	less than a year	US$3.93m	0.041% € 8.7m
Daniel Kiernan	President of Olive Garden	6.9yrs	US$3.82m	0.023% € 4.9m
Christopher Chang	Senior VP & Chief Information Officer	8.7yrs	no data	no data
Susan Connelly	Senior VP and Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer	9.3yrs	no data	0.0052% € 1.1m
Sarah King	Senior VP and Chief People & Diversity Officer	7.8yrs	no data	0.00038% € 80.1k
Douglas Milanes	Senior VP & Chief Supply Chain Officer	9.6yrs	no data	0.0033% € 687.4k
John Martin	President of Specialty Restaurant Group	20.9yrs	US$3.17m	0.011% € 2.3m
Kevin Kalicak	Senior Vice President of Finance for Olive Garden	less than a year	no data	no data
Jaime Bunker	Senior Vice President of Marketing - Olive Garden	2.9yrs	no data	no data

7.3yrs

Average Tenure

61yo

Average Age

Experienced Management: DDN's management team is seasoned and experienced (7.3 years average tenure).

Board Members

Name	Position	Tenure	Compensation	Ownership
Ricardo Cardenas	CEO, President & Director	2.6yrs	US$12.00m	0.050% € 10.5m
Margaret Atkins	Independent Director	10.2yrs	US$376.51k	0.0018% € 379.6k
James Fogarty	Independent Director	10.9yrs	US$365.45k	0.022% € 4.6m
Nana Mensah	Independent Director	8.1yrs	US$337.25k	0.000010% € 2.1k
Charles Sonsteby	Independent Director	10.9yrs	US$399.11k	0.023% € 4.8m
Cynthia Jamison	Independent Chair of the Board	10.9yrs	US$498.62k	0.0059% € 1.2m
Timothy Wilmott	Independent Director	6.3yrs	US$348.65k	0.023% € 4.9m
Juliana Chugg	Independent Director	2.8yrs	US$322.01k	0.0026% € 554.6k
William Simon	Independent Director	10.2yrs	US$313.55k	0.0063% € 1.3m
Daryl Kenningham	Independent Director	no data	no data	no data

9.1yrs

Average Tenure

64.5yo

Average Age

Experienced Board: DDN's board of directors are considered experienced (9.1 years average tenure).

Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

Data	Last Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis	2024/12/26 13:52
End of Day Share Price	2024/12/23 00:00
Earnings	2024/11/24
Annual Earnings	2024/05/26

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

Package	Data	Timeframe	Example US Source ^*
Company Financials	10 years	Income statement Cash flow statement Balance sheet	SEC Form 10-K SEC Form 10-Q
Analyst Consensus Estimates	+3 years	Forecast financials Analyst price targets	Analyst Research Reports Blue Matrix
Market Prices	30 years	Stock prices Dividends, Splits and Actions	ICE Market Data SEC Form S-1
Ownership	10 years	Top shareholders Insider trading	SEC Form 4 SEC Form 13D
Management	10 years	Leadership team Board of directors	SEC Form 10-K SEC Form DEF 14A
Key Developments	10 years	Company announcements	SEC Form 8-K

^* example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on .

Analyst Sources

Darden Restaurants, Inc. is covered by 62 analysts. 26 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

Analyst	Institution
John Staszak	Argus Research Company
David Tarantino	Baird
Ishan Majumdar	Baptista Research

Darden Restaurants Management

Management criteria checks 2/4

Key information

Recent management updates

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Appoints Daryl Kenningham as Its Newest Member

Senior VP & Chief Supply Chain Officer recently sold €882k worth of stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc., Annual General Meeting, Sep 18, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Announces Re-Designation of Todd A. Burrowes from President, LongHorn Steakhouse to President, Business Developmentm, Effective May 27, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Announces Board Changes

Non-Executive Chairman recently sold €6.2m worth of stock

Recent updates

Darden Restaurants Declares Quarterly Dividend, Payable on February 3, 2025

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Appoints Daryl Kenningham as Its Newest Member

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q2, 2025 Results on Dec 19, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) completed the acquisition of Chuy's Holdings, Inc. (NasdaqGS:CHUY) for approximately $660 million.

Upcoming dividend of US$1.40 per share

Senior VP & Chief Supply Chain Officer recently sold €882k worth of stock

First quarter dividend of US$1.40 announced

First quarter 2025 earnings released: EPS: US$1.75 (vs US$1.61 in 1Q 2024)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Reiterates Earnings Guidance for the Fiscal 2025

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend, Payable on November 1, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q1, 2025 Results on Sep 19, 2024

Dominican Sisters Files an Exempt Solicitation Statement and Request Vote for its Proposal

Dominican Sisters Files an Exempt Solicitation Statement and Request Vote for its Proposal

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Chuy's Holdings, Inc. (NasdaqGS:CHUY) for approximately $660 million.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Chuy's Holdings, Inc. (NasdaqGS:CHUY) for approximately $660 million.

Darden Restaurants, Inc.(NYSE:DRI) dropped from Russell 1000 Growth-Defensive Index

Darden Restaurants, Inc., Annual General Meeting, Sep 18, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Declares Cash Dividend for the Fourth Quarter Ended May 26, 2024, Payable on August 1, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q4, 2024 Results on Jun 20, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Announces Re-Designation of Todd A. Burrowes from President, LongHorn Steakhouse to President, Business Developmentm, Effective May 27, 2024

Third quarter dividend of US$1.31 announced

Third quarter 2024 earnings released: EPS: US$2.63 (vs US$2.36 in 3Q 2023)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) announces an Equity Buyback for $1,000 million worth of its shares.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q3, 2024 Results on Mar 21, 2024

Now 20% undervalued

Second quarter 2024 earnings released: EPS: US$1.77 (vs US$1.54 in 2Q 2023)

Second quarter 2024 earnings released: EPS: US$1.77 (vs US$1.54 in 2Q 2023)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend, Payable on February 1, 2024

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q2, 2024 Results on Dec 15, 2023

Upcoming dividend of US$1.31 per share at 3.7% yield

Now 22% undervalued after recent price drop

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Announces Board Changes

First quarter 2024 earnings released: EPS: US$1.61 (vs US$1.58 in 1Q 2023)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q1, 2024 Results on Sep 21, 2023

Non-Executive Chairman recently sold €6.2m worth of stock

Upcoming dividend of US$1.31 per share at 3.2% yield

Non-Executive Chairman recently sold €1.3m worth of stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc., Annual General Meeting, Sep 20, 2023

Full year 2023 earnings released: EPS: US$8.07 (vs US$7.47 in FY 2022)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) completed the acquisition of Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. (NasdaqGS:RUTH).

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q4, 2023 Results on Jun 22, 2023

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. (NasdaqGS:RUTH) for approximately $710 million.

Upcoming dividend of US$1.21 per share at 3.1% yield

Independent Director recently sold €390k worth of stock

Third quarter 2023 earnings released: EPS: US$2.36 (vs US$1.95 in 3Q 2022)

President of Specialty Restaurant Group recently sold €268k worth of stock

Upcoming dividend of US$1.21 per share

Second quarter 2023 earnings released: EPS: US$1.54 (vs US$1.50 in 2Q 2022)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Provides Earnings Guidance for the Full Year 2023

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q2, 2023 Results on Dec 16, 2022

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q1, 2023 Results on Sep 22, 2022

Executive Chairman recently sold €5.1m worth of stock

Full year 2022 earnings released: EPS: US$7.47 (vs US$4.85 in FY 2021)

Upcoming dividend of US$1.21 per share

Full year 2022 earnings released: EPS: US$7.47 (vs US$4.85 in FY 2021)

Darden Restaurants, Inc., Annual General Meeting, Sep 21, 2022

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q4, 2022 Results on Jun 23, 2022

Insufficient new directors

Now 22% undervalued after recent price drop

Director recently bought €226k worth of stock

Upcoming dividend of US$1.10 per share

Now 22% undervalued after recent price drop

Darden Restaurants, Inc. to Report Q3, 2022 Results on Mar 24, 2022

Upcoming dividend of US$1.10 per share

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FCPT) acquired Olive Garden Property in Pennsylvania US from Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) for $4.2 million.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. Provides Earnings Guidance for the Fiscal 2022

Second quarter 2022 earnings: EPS in line with analyst expectations despite revenue beat

Insufficient new directors

Upcoming dividend of US$1.10 per share