Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) Buy Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reiterated their buy rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $225.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on DRI. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.39.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $189.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $180.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.68. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $901,000. Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.4% in the first quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 68,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,129,000 after buying an additional 6,420 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 320,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $66,439,000 after buying an additional 70,035 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,514 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 2,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Darden Restaurants

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raised revenue outlook and solid top‑line — Darden reported revenue of $3.10B (+7.3% y/y) and strong comps at Olive Garden and LongHorn, and raised its full‑year sales outlook, a clear positive for growth expectations. PR Newswire: Q2 results & outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Strong analyst buy support — Multiple firms reiterated buy ratings and bullish price targets (Bank of America kept a Buy with a $261 target; BTIG reaffirmed Buy at $225; Stifel maintained bullish stance), supporting upside sentiment. TipRanks: BofA reiterates Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and cash returns remain attractive — Darden declared a $1.50 quarterly dividend (roughly a 3% yield), which supports income investors and signals confidence in cash flow. Seeking Alpha: Dividend declared
• Neutral Sentiment: FY26 EPS guidance roughly in line — Darden set FY2026 EPS guidance at $10.50–$10.70, close to consensus, which reduces uncertainty but doesn’t materially change the valuation picture. MarketBeat: Guidance and call
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst views on valuation — Some firms reiterate Hold/Equal‑Weight ratings citing full valuation despite solid execution, suggesting limited near‑term upside for investors who focus on valuation. TickerReport: Stephens equal weight
• Negative Sentiment: Slight EPS miss pressured the stock — Reported EPS was $2.08 vs. the $2.09 consensus (a $0.01 miss), which, despite being tiny, triggered downside given elevated expectations and the stock’s recent run. Benzinga: What’s going on with DRI stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure from commodity costs — Beef and other commodity inflation compressed margins (especially at LongHorn); management expects easing but cost pressure remains a near‑term risk to profitability. Seeking Alpha: Margin pressure analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual put buying and insider selling — Elevated put option activity and notable insider share sales were reported, which can add short‑term downside pressure or signal caution among some market participants. QuiverQuant: Options & insider activity

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.