Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $205.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BTIG Research decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.39.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $189.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.68.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants 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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Farmers National Bank boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,719 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 127.1% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 55,254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,518,000 after purchasing an additional 30,922 shares during the last quarter. Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Severin Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.4% during the third quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 2,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about 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.