Mizuho Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective hoisted by Mizuho from $185.00 to $195.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.75.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $189.36 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.51.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the second 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 during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.