Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $235.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target raised by Wedbush from $220.00 to $235.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants’ Q1 2026 earnings at $2.07 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.60 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.93 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.47. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $192.08 and a 200-day moving average of $176.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $682,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $409,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 93.8% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.