Q4 EPS Estimates for Darden Restaurants Boosted by Wedbush

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) – Investment analysts at Wedbush boosted their Q4 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Darden Restaurants in a report issued on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now forecasts that the restaurant operator will earn $2.99 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.90. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Darden Restaurants’ current full-year earnings is $9.47 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants’ Q2 2026 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.03 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $3.32 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up from $182.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $184.79 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.34. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $188.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,562 shares in the company, valued at $2,602,433.26. This trade represents a 11.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,366,948 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. WealthShield Partners LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the second quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 10,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,589,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 35.9% during the second quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 3,570 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.