Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Dividend Announcement

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. Approximately 946,880 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the previous session’s volume of 1,318,946 shares.The stock last traded at $193.98 and had previously closed at $189.53.

The newly announced 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.39.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Key Stores Impacting Darden Restaurants

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

• Positive Sentiment: Raised revenue outlook and solid top?line — Darden reported revenue of $3.10B (+7.3% y/y) and strong comps at Olive Garden and LongHorn, and raised its full?year sales outlook, a clear positive for growth expectations. PR Newswire: Q2 results & outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Strong analyst buy support — Multiple firms reiterated buy ratings and bullish price targets (Bank of America kept a Buy with a $261 target; BTIG reaffirmed Buy at $225; Stifel maintained bullish stance), supporting upside sentiment. TipRanks: BofA reiterates Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and cash returns remain attractive — Darden declared a $1.50 quarterly dividend (roughly a 3% yield), which supports income investors and signals confidence in cash flow. Seeking Alpha: Dividend declared
• Neutral Sentiment: FY26 EPS guidance roughly in line — Darden set FY2026 EPS guidance at $10.50–$10.70, close to consensus, which reduces uncertainty but doesn’t materially change the valuation picture. MarketBeat: Guidance and call
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst views on valuation — Some firms reiterate Hold/Equal?Weight ratings citing full valuation despite solid execution, suggesting limited near?term upside for investors who focus on valuation. TickerReport: Stephens equal weight
• Negative Sentiment: Slight EPS miss pressured the stock — Reported EPS was $2.08 vs. the $2.09 consensus (a $0.01 miss), which, despite being tiny, triggered downside given elevated expectations and the stock’s recent run. Benzinga: What’s going on with DRI stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure from commodity costs — Beef and other commodity inflation compressed margins (especially at LongHorn); management expects easing but cost pressure remains a near?term risk to profitability. Seeking Alpha: Margin pressure analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual put buying and insider selling — Elevated put option activity and notable insider share sales were reported, which can add short?term downside pressure or signal caution among some market participants. QuiverQuant: Options & insider activity

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $901,000. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 68,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,129,000 after acquiring an additional 6,420 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 320,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $66,439,000 after acquiring an additional 70,035 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 10,514 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 2,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.