Analysts Set Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Price Target at $226.88

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jun 13th, 2026

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $226.88.

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $211.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $198.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.55. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $24.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This trade represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.