Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Melius Research

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday,Finviz reports.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $205.14 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64. 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 fifty day moving average of $188.15 and a 200-day moving average of $194.44.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $196,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $282,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $624,000. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.