Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $230.50.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $228.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $215.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $209.00 and a 200-day moving average of $204.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 11.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total transaction of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,009,682.76. This trade represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 8,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total transaction of $1,780,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,799,490. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock worth $14,636,984. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Glenview Trust co increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Darden Restaurants

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.