Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reiterated their hold rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Truist Financial currently has a $207.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous price target of $240.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $202.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clear Trail Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,331,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1,163.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 68,977 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,693,000 after buying an additional 63,519 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 478.9% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 17,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after acquiring an additional 14,678 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 17,844 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 83,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,844,000 after acquiring an additional 32,678 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.