Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective raised by research analysts at UBS Group from $230.00 to $240.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.33% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on DRI. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore cut Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.32.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $211.78. 954,799 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,378,302. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.89. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $222.56. The company has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 made changes to their positions in DRI. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,438,000 after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Darden Restaurants News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Darden raised its quarterly dividend by 8% and authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in cash flow and shareholder returns.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised price targets after the earnings release, including BTIG to $235, Piper Sandler to $212, Robert W. Baird to $220, and Stephens to $216, reflecting still-positive long-term expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: The company posted EPS of $3.66, above consensus, and revenue rose sharply year over year, helped by continued strength at LongHorn Steakhouse and solid overall demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts said the quarter was mixed, with steady growth and pricing discipline, but the market appears focused on the softer-than-expected outlook rather than the earnings beat. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s FY2027 guidance of $11.10-$11.35 EPS and $13.6 billion-$13.8 billion revenue was slightly below expectations, which may be limiting enthusiasm despite the strong quarterly results.
• Negative Sentiment: Olive Garden growth appears to be cooling, and the company missed revenue estimates by a small margin, reinforcing concerns that costs and moderation in key brands could weigh on near-term upside.

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.