Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given Buy Rating at Truist Financial

Truist Financial restated their buy rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $252.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of several other research reports. Melius began coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Stephens raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $208.00 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $153.98 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,376,000 after buying an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,728,000 after buying an additional 7,902 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 124.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.