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

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $229.32.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $202.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $202.62 and its 200 day moving average is $202.30. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $220.65. The firm has a market cap of $23.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 57.80%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.