Recent Analysts’ Ratings Changes for Darden Restaurants (DRI)

Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

• 3/24/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Guggenheim from $205.00 to $220.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $230.00 to $235.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at KeyCorp from $200.00 to $220.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $209.00 to $217.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Wedbush from $220.00 to $235.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $218.00 to $230.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $192.00 to $210.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $175.00 to $190.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at TD Securities from $180.00 to $190.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $200.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Stephens from $175.00 to $178.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $223.00 to $229.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $210.00 to $225.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $230.00 to $238.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $205.00 to $215.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/20/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stephens. They now have a $175.00 price target on the stock.
• 3/17/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $200.00 to $212.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 3/13/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stephens. They now have a $175.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/28/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Raymond James from $200.00 to $210.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:DRI traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $206.81. The company had a trading volume of 229,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,882. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $210.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $192.60 and a 200 day moving average of $177.21. The company has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $642,967,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $48,919,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $40,048,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 145.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $71,883,000 after purchasing an additional 227,977 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.