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

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

• 6/30/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Argus from $240.00 to $245.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 6/26/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by UBS Group AG from $230.00 to $240.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 6/26/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $230.00 to $236.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 6/26/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Piper Sandler from $208.00 to $212.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 6/26/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by BTIG Research from $225.00 to $235.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 6/26/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Stephens from $210.00 to $216.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 6/26/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Robert W. Baird from $210.00 to $220.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 6/24/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Guggenheim from $230.00 to $235.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 6/23/2026 – Darden Restaurants was downgraded by Evercore Inc from “outperform” to “in-line”. They now have a $230.00 price target on the stock.
• 6/22/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by BMO Capital Markets.
• 6/18/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc.. They now have a $235.00 price target on the stock.
• 6/18/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by Stephens. They now have a $210.00 price target on the stock.
• 6/15/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Citigroup Inc. from $238.00 to $245.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 6/11/2026 – Darden Restaurants was downgraded by Weiss Ratings from “buy (b)” to “buy (b-)”.
• 6/5/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by Bank of America Corporation from $272.00 to $276.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 5/27/2026 – Darden Restaurants had its price target raised by KeyCorp from $226.00 to $228.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 5/26/2026 – Darden Restaurants was upgraded by Weiss Ratings from “buy (b-)” to “buy (b)”.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by 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.