Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $223.00.

Several research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $202.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $182.16 and its 200 day moving average is $194.81.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.89%.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,824,996,000 after buying an additional 236,620 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,063,609,000 after acquiring an additional 284,814 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after acquiring an additional 100,270 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,211 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $887,988,000 after acquiring an additional 75,701 shares during the period. 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.