Truist Financial Cuts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $240.00

Key Points

• Truist Financial has lowered its target price for Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.60% from the previous close.
• Darden Restaurants reported earnings of $1.97 per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01, with revenue of $3.04 billion, up 10.4% year-over-year.
• Insider transactions have seen significant share sales, with insiders selling a total of 45,727 shares valued at over $10 million in the last three months.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Truist Financial from $252.00 to $240.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on DRI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $184.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 469,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,583. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $155.18 and a one year high of $228.27. The firm has a market cap of $21.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.71. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $205.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.17.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 64.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total transaction of $2,937,010.05. Following the transaction, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,027,479.15. This represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,264 shares of company stock worth $5,024,790. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 5,119 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,728,000 after purchasing an additional 7,902 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 924 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 124.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,471 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 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.