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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Mizuho from $185.00 to $195.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Mizuho’s target price suggests a potential upside of 4.32% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on DRI. Argus cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim reduced 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 note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.75.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $186.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.29. 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 has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 275,907 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $57,323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 296,772 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,670,000 after purchasing an additional 13,634 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2,602.8% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 973 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,877 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. 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.