Wedbush Estimates Darden Restaurants’ Q1 Earnings (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) – Wedbush lifted their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Darden Restaurants in a report issued on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $2.07 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.03. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Darden Restaurants’ current full-year earnings is $9.52 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants’ Q4 2026 earnings at $3.60 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.93 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $207.43 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $210.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $193.09 and its 200 day moving average is $177.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,919,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,048,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 145.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $71,883,000 after buying an additional 227,977 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.