Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Darden Restaurants holds a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 27 analysts, with 17 buy ratings and 10 holds. The average 12-month price target is $228.88, above the reported opening price of $212.10.
• Darden’s latest quarterly results slightly exceeded expectations, with EPS of $3.66 versus the $3.63 consensus, while revenue rose 13.7% year over year to $3.72 billion.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.62 per share, representing an annualized payout of $6.48 and a 3.1% yield.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $228.8750.

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Argus increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.5%

DRI opened at $212.10 on Thursday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $203.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.15. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $24.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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