Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $223.00.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $26,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $202.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $182.16 and its 200 day moving average is $194.81. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

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.