Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $230.29 and last traded at $230.60, with a volume of 520,802 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $219.39.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, September 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, September 11th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $248.00 to $247.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.82.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on DRI
Darden Restaurants Stock Up 5.2%
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $210.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.02.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The restaurant operator reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.85% and a return on equity of 58.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.24 earnings per share for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.34%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,015,109,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $651,813,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $248,083,000 after purchasing an additional 33,965 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $204,099,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 685,636 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $141,248,000 after buying an additional 89,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.
About Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company that owns and operates a portfolio of dining brands in the United States. Its restaurants offer a range of cuisines and dining formats, including Italian-American, steakhouse, seafood, casual dining and polished casual concepts.
The company’s portfolio includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s. These brands serve meals prepared for on-premises dining, as well as takeout and other off-premises occasions.
Darden traces its history to 1968, when founder William “Bill” Darden opened the first Red Lobster restaurant in Lakeland, Florida.
See Also
- Five stocks we like better than Darden Restaurants
- Why ExxonMobil and Chevron Reminded Investors to Keep it Simple
- Amazon Has Erased Its Earnings Sell-Off, But Is the Biggest Opportunity Still Ahead?
- onsemi’s AI Sales Surge 175%: Is a Stock Recovery Next?
- Energy Transfer’s Earnings Miss May Be Hiding Its Strongest Advantage
Receive News & Ratings for Darden Restaurants Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Darden Restaurants and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
