Stephens Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Stephens from $205.00 to $210.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 2.96% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.11.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $203.96 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. 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’s fifty day moving average is $208.08 and its 200-day moving average is $194.68. The stock has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613,781 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,483,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 820.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $153,977,000 after buying an additional 629,669 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $113,301,000. Hedge funds and other 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: Company raised its full?year revenue and adjusted EPS outlook and reiterated capital returns, which supports investor confidence and upside potential. Reuters: Darden raises annual sales forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results: adjusted EPS roughly in line ($2.95) and revenues (~$3.35B) up ~5.9% YoY — modestly better than expectations on a reported basis, with comps helped by LongHorn and new restaurants. These operational beats underpin the stock’s resilience. PR Newswire: Q3 results & press release
• Positive Sentiment: Darden declared a $1.50 quarterly dividend (ex?dividend April 10), reinforcing the yield/cash?return story that supports demand from income?oriented investors. PR Newswire: Dividend announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Brand-level strength: LongHorn Steakhouse led comps, and systemwide same?store sales and unit growth were bright spots — a tangible growth driver for revenue and margin recovery. WSJ: Sales rise boosted by LongHorn
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reaction is mixed: some firms reaffirm ratings (Stephens kept an equal?weight $205 PT) while others adjusted forecasts — overall tone is cautiously constructive but not uniformly bullish. Benzinga: analyst forecast changes
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP results were weighed by one?time impairments and the wind?down of Bahama Breeze locations; those charges cloud near?term comparability and prompted the early pullback after the release. MarketBeat: Q3 earnings and impairments

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.