Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $230.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $222.00 to $230.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.81% from the stock’s previous close.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.04.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $205.70. The stock had a trading volume of 726,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,495,550. The company has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $208.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darden Restaurants News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results and guidance lift — DRI reported revenue up ~5.9% YoY and EPS roughly in line/just ahead of estimates, and management raised full‑year revenue and adjusted EPS guidance, which supports near-term growth expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst price-target raises — Several firms (Barclays, KeyCorp, Robert W. Baird, Stephens, Wells Fargo and BTIG among others) boosted targets and/or maintained favorable ratings after the report, providing buy‑side momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns support valuation — Darden continues aggressive buybacks and pays a ~2.9% yield with dividend growth; MarketBeat highlights institutional accumulation and remaining buyback capacity, which underpins shares. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst stances still present — while several firms raised targets, some re‑affirmed neutral/equal‑weight ratings and a few noted valuation/competitive considerations; expect varied brokerage commentary to keep intraday volatility. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: One‑time charges and brand impairment — Management recorded impairments and one‑offs tied to Bahama Breeze (and a weather-related impact), which weakened GAAP results; these items add short-term noise and raise questions about conversion costs for closed locations. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Risk/near-term headwinds flagged — Some commentary highlights building risks (margins, weather, cyclicality), meaning upside could be tempered if same‑store momentum slows or costs accelerate. Read More.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.