Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $205.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 0.64% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.33.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $203.69 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $207.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,781 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $144,483,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 820.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $153,977,000 after acquiring an additional 629,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $113,301,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.