Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Lowered to $181.00 at Wedbush

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price trimmed by Wedbush from $187.00 to $181.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.61 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.78 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.96 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.18 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.37 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated an outperform rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Darden Restaurants from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $162.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.14. The firm has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.26.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 3,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.80, for a total transaction of $628,336.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,141,849.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 3,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.80, for a total transaction of $628,336.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,141,849.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,373,923 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,911,012,000 after acquiring an additional 362,658 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,899,291 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,380,814,000 after purchasing an additional 455,588 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,584,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $933,087,000 after buying an additional 25,333 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,576,948 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $369,070,000 after buying an additional 52,864 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,561,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $396,532,000 after purchasing an additional 54,085 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.