Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Raised to Buy at Melius Research

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Melius Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Finviz reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 price target (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $205.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $188.15 and a 200 day moving average of $194.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the second quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.