Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts rate Darden “Moderate Buy”: 16 of 25 analysts recommend buying the stock, while nine rate it a hold; the average one-year price target is $232.82.
• Quarterly results were mixed: Earnings of $2.05 per share matched estimates, while revenue of $3.20 billion came in slightly below consensus and rose 5.1% year over year.
• Darden declared a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share, equivalent to $6.48 annually and a reported yield of 2.9%.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $232.82.

DRI has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $248.00 to $247.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $2,015,109,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $651,813,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,473 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $248,083,000 after purchasing an additional 33,965 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $204,099,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 685,636 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $141,248,000 after purchasing an additional 89,157 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.4%

DRI stock opened at $225.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $233.98. The business's fifty day moving average price is $211.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The restaurant operator reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 58.64% and a net margin of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 11.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.34%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company that owns and operates a portfolio of dining brands in the United States. Its restaurants offer a range of cuisines and dining formats, including Italian-American, steakhouse, seafood, casual dining and polished casual concepts.

The company's portfolio includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Ruth's Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V's. These brands serve meals prepared for on-premises dining, as well as takeout and other off-premises occasions.

Darden traces its history to 1968, when founder William “Bill” Darden opened the first Red Lobster restaurant in Lakeland, Florida.

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