Investment Analysts’ Recent Ratings Changes for Darden Restaurants (DRI)

A number of research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI):

• 1/23/2026 – Darden Restaurants was upgraded by analysts at Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 1/23/2026 – Darden Restaurants was upgraded by analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $235.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $195.00.
• 1/21/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Raymond James Financial, Inc..
• 1/12/2026 – Darden Restaurants was upgraded by analysts at Weiss Ratings from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating.
• 1/8/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Truist Financial Corporation. They now have a $207.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $240.00.
• 1/7/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $230.00 to $227.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/6/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $205.00 to $220.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 12/29/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “hold (c+)” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings.
• 12/22/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “hold (c+)” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings.
• 12/22/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $185.00 to $195.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at UBS Group AG.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at TD Cowen.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at KeyCorp.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Raymond James Financial, Inc..
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BMO Capital Markets. They now have a $205.00 price target on the stock.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Evercore ISI.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BTIG Research. They now have a $225.00 price target on the stock.
• 12/19/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stephens. They now have a $205.00 price target on the stock.
• 12/17/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target lowered by analysts at Guggenheim from $235.00 to $230.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 12/15/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “hold (c+)” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings.
• 12/15/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target lowered by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from $210.00 to $200.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 12/12/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $238.00 to $236.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 12/11/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target lowered by analysts at Stephens from $215.00 to $205.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 12/9/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target lowered by analysts at Evercore ISI from $240.00 to $225.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 12/8/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its “hold (c+)” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Weiss Ratings.
• 12/3/2025 – Darden Restaurants had its price target lowered by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $239.00 to $232.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 12/1/2025 – Darden Restaurants was downgraded by analysts at Weiss Ratings from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.