Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $235.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $234.00 to $235.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on DRI. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.89.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE DRI opened at $203.74 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 424,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $78,274,000 after buying an additional 14,156 shares during the last quarter. Bayban acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $128,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 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.