Raymond James Financial Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Raymond James Financial in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on DRI. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 price objective (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.30.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $205.14 on Wednesday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.44. The company has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the sale, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $2,441,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 74.5% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 17,195 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,342 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,275,000 after purchasing an additional 4,804 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,816,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,844 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.