Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given “Buy” Rating at Guggenheim

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $235.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.51% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, August 24th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:DRI traded down $3.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $203.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 201,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,334,904. The company has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $212.01 and its 200-day moving average is $204.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The restaurant operator reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.21 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 11.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,915,354.02. This represents a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.32, for a total transaction of $226,795.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,197,257.28. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $2,015,109,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $651,813,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $204,099,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $144,483,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $118,824,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

More Darden Restaurants News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains meaningful. Mizuho raised its price target to $245 from $235 and upgraded DRI to Outperform, citing upside from current levels. BTIG reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $235 target, while Bernstein maintained a Buy rating and a $230 target. Bernstein analyst rating
• Positive Sentiment: Darden reaffirmed fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS guidance of $11.10 to $11.35, broadly consistent with analysts’ $11.28 consensus, reducing concerns that the quarterly miss signals a full-year outlook cut. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share, or $6.48 annually, representing a yield of approximately 3.1%. Darden fiscal 2027 first-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue increased 5.1% year over year to $3.20 billion, while portfolio-wide same-restaurant sales rose 3.1%. LongHorn Steakhouse was a relative strength, with same-store sales growth of 6.2%, supporting the company’s diversified brand portfolio.
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional analysts offered balanced views: Stephens reaffirmed Equal Weight with a $220 target, and TD Cowen maintained Hold with a $215 target. BMO lowered its target to $220 from $225 but kept a Market Perform rating, indicating limited near-term conviction.
• Negative Sentiment: The main pressure is the first-quarter revenue shortfall versus the approximately $3.21 billion consensus and weaker-than-expected earnings comparisons. Adjusted EPS of $2.05 was roughly in line with estimates but below some forecasts, while reported net income declined to $233.4 million from $257.8 million as food and labor costs increased.
• Negative Sentiment: Olive Garden, Darden’s largest concept, delivered only 1.1% same-store sales growth, highlighting slower casual-dining traffic and consumer pressure. That weakness appears to be outweighing the revenue growth, dividend, reaffirmed guidance, and favorable analyst targets in the current trading session. CNBC Darden earnings report

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc (NYSE: DRI) is a full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It operates and franchises a portfolio of dining brands serving a range of cuisines, price points and occasions, with restaurants primarily located in the United States and select international markets.

Its restaurant portfolio includes Olive Garden, an Italian-American dining chain; LongHorn Steakhouse; Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen; Yard House; The Capital Grille; Seasons 52; Bahama Breeze; Eddie V’s; Ruth’s Chris Steak House; and Chuy’s.