Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $210.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 1.33% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on DRI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday. Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.67.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $2.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $207.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 312,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,488,499. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.68.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,206,000 after buying an additional 31,815 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 164.1% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,536,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $2,816,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 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: Q3 results and outlook lift: Darden reported FQ3 results with EPS roughly in line with expectations, revenue up ~5.9% YoY, and management raised its full?year sales and earnings outlook—citing resilient comps and LongHorn strength. This is a primary driver for investor optimism. PR Newswire: Q3 Results & Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: Multiple firms raised targets and/or reiterated positive ratings after the print — KeyCorp to $226 (overweight), BTIG reaffirmed buy at $225, Robert W. Baird lifted to $215, and Stephens adjusted to $210 — supporting near?term upside. Benzinga: Analysts Increase Forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns: Darden declared a $1.50 quarterly dividend (yield ~2.9%) and continues share?repurchase activity — supporting shareholder return narrative and attracting dividend/cash?flow investors. PR Newswire: Dividend & Capital Return
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat / institutional view: Commentary highlights durable cash flow, aggressive buybacks, and heavy institutional accumulation — factors that provide support and an analyst consensus tilted toward further upside. MarketBeat: Darden Has the Growth and Cash Flow to Hit New Highs
• Neutral Sentiment: Detailed disclosures and materials: Earnings call transcript and slide deck are available for deeper diligence (useful for investors reviewing guidance, comps, and unit economics). Seeking Alpha: Q3 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: One?offs and brand impairment risk: Management flagged impairments/one?time costs tied to Bahama Breeze and noted a ~100 bps hit from Winter Storm Fern; these items weighed on GAAP results and add near?term noise/risk. Some commentaries warn of building risks despite the solid quarter. Seeking Alpha: Solid Q3, But Risks Are Building

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.