Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Citigroup from $234.00 to $235.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on DRI. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.89.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $2.78 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $206.19. 891,113 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,443,346. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.87. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,011 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $399,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.