Barclays Lowers Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $227.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Barclays from $230.00 to $227.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 12.02% from the company’s previous close.

DRI has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of DRI opened at $202.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bowman & Co S.C. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,099,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. GAM Holding AG grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.