Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Citigroup from $235.00 to $238.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 17.06% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DRI. Stephens boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.15.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock traded down $1.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $203.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,402,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,506,611. The business has a 50 day moving average of $208.08 and a 200 day moving average of $194.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The company 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%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 780,978 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $170,203,000 after acquiring an additional 128,468 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 9.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,276 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,267,000 after acquiring an additional 4,866 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 16.1% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,327 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,063,609,000 after purchasing an additional 284,814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Darden Restaurants

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts raised price targets and ratings after the Q3 print, signaling renewed buy‑side interest (Deutsche Bank raised to $230, Barclays to $232, KeyCorp to $226, BTIG reaffirmed buy at $225). These upgrades increase upside expectations for the stock. Benzinga analyst roundup
• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results and outlook: DRI reported $2.95 EPS and ~$3.35B revenue, raised full‑year sales/earnings guidance, and management highlighted resilient comps (LongHorn strength) — fundamentals that support higher estimates and analyst bullishness. PR Newswire: Q3 results & guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Capital return remains a tailwind: Darden declared a quarterly dividend ($1.50/share) and continues buybacks (meaningful share reduction pace), supporting yield (~2.9%) and EPS accretion. This attracts income and total‑return investors. PR Newswire: dividend & buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Industry/coverage note: MarketBeat and other analysts highlight Darden’s cash flow, institutional accumulation and potential to reach new highs given continued margin recovery and franchise conversions. MarketBeat: growth & cash flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Some shops moderated expectations or kept neutral/equal‑weight stances despite raising targets (Wells Fargo, Stephens, Robert W. Baird) — indicating cautious optimism rather than broad conviction. Benzinga coverage
• Negative Sentiment: One‑time charges and brand actions: management took impairments and is exiting/closing Bahama Breeze locations, which pressured GAAP results and created near‑term noise despite conversions to other formats. That uncertainty likely weighs on sentiment. MarketBeat: Bahama Breeze impairments
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term volatility: the stock slipped after the release (early weakness around technical levels) and some commentary flagged operational risks (weather, one‑offs), which can amplify intraday selling. Reuters: post‑earnings market reaction

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.