Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Lowered to $210.00 at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial reduced Darden Restaurants' price target from $230.00 to $210.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating, which suggests a potential upside of 12.19% from the current stock price.
• Darden's stock performance includes a recent trading low of $155.18 and a high of $228.27, with current trading at $187.18, reflecting a decrease during mid-day trading.
• The company declared a stock repurchase program of $1.00 billion, indicating confidence from the board that the stock is undervalued despite recent shifts in analyst ratings.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Raymond James Financial from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Raymond James Financial's price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.62% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on DRI. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 4.1%

NYSE:DRI traded down $7.91 on Friday, hitting $184.83. 3,334,483 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,189,895. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $206.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $155.18 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.71.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.00, for a total transaction of $1,514,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,132,006. This trade represents a 32.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,012,212.10. The trade was a 55.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,376,000 after buying an additional 5,119 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,728,000 after buying an additional 7,902 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.4% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 124.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.