Stephens Cuts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $205.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target trimmed by Stephens from $215.00 to $205.00 in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.93.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $182.10 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.73. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $159.67 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.75 EPS. The business’s 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, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $35,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.