Brokerages Set Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Target Price at $228.88

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $230.50.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $215.77 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $229.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $209.00 and its 200-day moving average is $204.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. The trade was a 31.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 25,118.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 35,137,478 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,238,672,000 after purchasing an additional 34,998,143 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,311 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,172 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Chico Wealth RIA purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $204,000. Finally, AlphaGrep UK Ltd purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $295,000. 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.