Evercore ISI Cuts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $225.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) had its price target lowered by Evercore ISI from $240.00 to $225.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.00.

View Our Latest Research Report on Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $183.31 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $159.67 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $21.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.66.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,824,996,000 after purchasing an additional 236,620 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,063,609,000 after purchasing an additional 284,814 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after buying an additional 100,270 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $849,726,000 after buying an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $887,988,000 after buying an additional 75,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.

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