Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $240.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $230.00 to $240.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.33% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.32.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $211.78. 954,799 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,378,302. The stock has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $222.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.89.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Darden Restaurants

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Darden raised its quarterly dividend by 8% and authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in cash flow and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised price targets after the earnings release, including BTIG to $235, Piper Sandler to $212, Robert W. Baird to $220, and Stephens to $216, reflecting still-positive long-term expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: The company posted EPS of $3.66, above consensus, and revenue rose sharply year over year, helped by continued strength at LongHorn Steakhouse and solid overall demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts said the quarter was mixed, with steady growth and pricing discipline, but the market appears focused on the softer-than-expected outlook rather than the earnings beat. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s FY2027 guidance of $11.10-$11.35 EPS and $13.6 billion-$13.8 billion revenue was slightly below expectations, which may be limiting enthusiasm despite the strong quarterly results.
• Negative Sentiment: Olive Garden growth appears to be cooling, and the company missed revenue estimates by a small margin, reinforcing concerns that costs and moderation in key brands could weigh on near-term upside.

About Darden Restaurants

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.