Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by Bank of America from $253.00 to $254.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.81.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 7.7%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $192.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.71. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $155.18 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total value of $1,514,882.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,132,006. This represents a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.3% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 56.3% during the second quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 9,279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,903,000 after buying an additional 3,344 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 28.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 42,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,314,000 after buying an additional 9,574 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 422.8% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,330 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,124,000 after buying an additional 11,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $4,235,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.