Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Upgraded to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $225.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DRI. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.15.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $187.90 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $157.89 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $199.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,341 shares of company stock valued at $1,438,707. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 124.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at $331,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 8.9% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,489 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.