Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $229.32.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.2%

DRI stock opened at $203.84 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $202.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.80%.

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.