Wedbush Equities Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for DRI

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Wedbush upped their Q4 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $2.99 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.90. Wedbush has a "Outperform" rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Darden Restaurants' current full-year earnings is $9.47 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants' Q2 2026 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.03 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $3.32 EPS.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (up previously from $182.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.5 %

DRI traded down $2.80 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $184.79. 2,048,979 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,257,994. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $166.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.34. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $188.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,562 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,602,433.26. This trade represents a 11.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,366,948. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

About Darden Restaurants

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.