Zacks Research Issues Positive Estimate for DRI Earnings

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research boosted their Q4 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Darden Restaurants in a report issued on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the restaurant operator will earn $3.57 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $3.55. The consensus estimate for Darden Restaurants’ current full-year earnings is $9.52 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants’ Q2 2027 earnings at $2.25 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $3.24 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $3.78 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $2.15 EPS and Q2 2028 earnings at $2.48 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on DRI. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.7%

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $196.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $205.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the sale, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 over the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.