Darden Restaurants (DRI) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is a leading full-service dining company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Established in 1968 with the opening of its first Red Lobster, the company has evolved into a multi-brand restaurant operator known for its diverse portfolio of casual and fine dining concepts. Darden’s brand lineup includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Yard House, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, each offering distinct menus and experiences.

The company’s core business activities encompass the development, ownership and operation of restaurant locations across the United States and Canada. Darden emphasizes culinary innovation and top-quality ingredients, tailoring menus to regional tastes while maintaining consistent service standards. Its restaurant models feature dine-in, takeout and delivery services, supported by digital ordering platforms and loyalty programs to enhance customer engagement and operational efficiency.

Over the years, Darden has pursued growth through new restaurant openings, strategic acquisitions and portfolio optimization. The company leverages centralized purchasing, supply-chain management and real-estate expertise to drive economies of scale. In addition to organic expansion, it has refined its brand mix through targeted investments and divestitures, ensuring alignment with evolving consumer preferences in casual dining and upscale markets.

Darden’s leadership team is led by Chief Executive Officer Rick Cardenas, who oversees corporate strategy, brand development and operational execution. Supported by an experienced executive team in finance, marketing and culinary innovation, the company maintains a commitment to corporate responsibility, workforce development and community engagement. Through a combination of brand strength, operational discipline and guest-focused initiatives, Darden Restaurants continues to pursue sustainable long-term growth in the competitive restaurant industry.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $217.21 to $218.50
• 50-Day Range: $198.15 to $226.09
• 52-Week Range: $135.87 to $228.27
• Volume: 20,779 shs
• Average Volume: 1.34 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $25.43 billion
• P/E Ratio: 24.47
• Dividend Yield: 2.58%
• Price Target: $224.60
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Darden Restaurants Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Darden Restaurants scored higher than 95% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 19th out of 208 stocks in the retail/wholesale sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Darden Restaurants has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.64, and is based on 16 buy ratings, 9 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Darden Restaurants has been the subject of 17 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 11.76%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Darden Restaurants are expected to grow by 11.76% in the coming year, from $9.52 to $10.64 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Darden Restaurants is 24.50, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.96.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Darden Restaurants is 24.50, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Retail/Wholesale sector average P/E ratio of about 29.12.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Darden Restaurants has a PEG Ratio of 2.09. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Darden Restaurants has a P/B Ratio of 11.02. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.86% of the float of Darden Restaurants has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Darden Restaurants has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Darden Restaurants has recently decreased by 2.17%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

Darden Restaurants pays a meaningful dividend of 2.59%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Darden Restaurants has only been increasing its dividend for 4 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Darden Restaurants is 63.06%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Darden Restaurants will have a dividend payout ratio of 52.63% next year. This indicates that Darden Restaurants will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Environmental Score: -3.04

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.86% of the float of Darden Restaurants has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Darden Restaurants has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Darden Restaurants has recently decreased by 2.17%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.87

News Sentiment

Darden Restaurants has a news sentiment score of 0.87. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.69 average news sentiment score of Retail/Wholesale companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 17 news articles for Darden Restaurants this week, compared to 19 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

24 people have searched for DRI on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 167% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 6 people have added Darden Restaurants to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -50% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Darden Restaurants insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $9,609,494.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.58% of the stock of Darden Restaurants is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

93.64% of the stock of Darden Restaurants is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

DRI Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have DRI shares performed this year?

Darden Restaurants' stock was trading at $186.69 at the start of the year. Since then, DRI shares have increased by 16.6% and is now trading at $217.59.

How were Darden Restaurants' earnings last quarter?

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June, 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

How will Darden Restaurants' stock buyback program work?

Darden Restaurants' board initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th 2025, which allows the company to buy back $1,000,000,000 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could buy up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Does Darden Restaurants have any subsidiaries?

Darden Restaurants subsidiaries include these companies: Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Rare Hospitality Management, Bahama Breeze Holdings, Capital Grille Holdings, Cheddar’s Casual Café, Cheddar's Restaurant Holding Corp., and others.

Who are Darden Restaurants' major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Darden Restaurants include Cullen Investment Group LTD. (0.03%), First Financial Bank Trust Division (0.02%), Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. (0.01%) and NBC Securities Inc.. Insiders that own company stock include Ricardo Cardenas, Todd Burrowes, Richard L Renninger, Daniel J Kiernan, Matthew R Broad, Melvin John Martin, Laura B Williamson, John W Madonna, William S Simon, Susan M Connelly, Rajesh Vennam, Sarah H King, Douglas J Milanes and Nana Mensah.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Darden Restaurants?

Shares of DRI stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Darden Restaurants own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Darden Restaurants investors own include NVIDIA (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Salesforce (CRM), Broadcom (AVGO), Humana (HUM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and AbbVie (ABBV).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 5/1 Dividend: 4/10/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 5/1 Dividend: 4/10/2025
• Dividend Payable: 5/01/2025
• Last Earnings: 6/20/2025
• Today: 7/08/2025
• Record date for 8/1 Dividend: 7/10/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 8/1 Dividend: 7/10/2025
• Dividend Payable: 8/01/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 9/25/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 5/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Retail/Wholesale
• Industry: RETAIL - RESTRNTS
• Sub-Industry: Restaurants
• Current Symbol: NYSE:DRI
• CIK: 940944
• Web: www.darden.com
• Phone: (407) 245-4000
• Fax: 407-245-4989
• Employees: 191,105
• Year Founded: 1968

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Darden Restaurants: $224.60
• High Price Target: $255.00
• Low Price Target: $150.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +3.2%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.64
• Research Coverage: 25 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $8.88
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 24.50
• Forward P/E Ratio: 22.86
• P/E Growth: 2.09
• Net Income: $1.05 billion
• Net Margins: 8.69%
• Pretax Margin: 9.83%
• Return on Equity: 51.81%
• Return on Assets: 9.23%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.92
• Current Ratio: 0.42
• Quick Ratio: 0.28

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $12.08 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.11
• Cash Flow: $14.18 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 15.35
• Book Value: $19.75 per share
• Price / Book: 11.02

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 117,030,000
• Free Float: 116,347,000
• Market Cap: $25.46 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.74