Stephens Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $215.00

Key Points

• Stephens has raised its price target for Darden Restaurants from $212.00 to $215.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.74% from the previous close.
• Darden reported impressive quarterly results, with earnings per share of $2.98, slightly surpassing analysts' expectations, alongside a revenue increase of 10.6% year-over-year.
• The company has authorized a $1 billion share buyback program, suggesting that its board believes the stock is currently undervalued.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Stephens from $212.00 to $215.00 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 would suggest a potential upside of 0.74% from the company's previous close.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $224.92.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $213.42 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $155.18 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.71. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $207.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total transaction of $1,059,598.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,029,835.56. The trade was a 50.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 419.2% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

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