Brokerages Set Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Target Price at $224.78

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $224.7778.

DRI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Barclays cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $216.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.80. The firm has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.