Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $228.88 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Posted by George Bondi on Aug 4th, 2026

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $228.8750.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Argus lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 18th.

Get Our Latest Report on DRI

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 39,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.06, for a total value of $8,181,354.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,009,682.76. This represents a 31.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total value of $463,386.42. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,028.05. This represents a 34.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 59,768 shares of company stock valued at $12,472,786 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 80,001 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased 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 buying an additional 2,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,183 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $206.17 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $203.80 and a 200 day moving average of $203.14. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.43%.

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.