Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Citigroup from $234.00 to $235.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.34% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.89.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $203.74 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for 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%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,206,000 after acquiring an additional 31,815 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,536,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at about $2,816,000. Finally, Midwest Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $2,441,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.