Darden Restaurants
About: Darden Restaurants is the largest restaurant operator in the us full-service space, with consolidated revenue of $11.4 billion in fiscal 2024 resulting in 3%-4% full-service market share (per NRA data and our calculations). The company maintains a portfolio of 11 restaurant brands: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Ruth's Chris, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Eddie V's, Bahama Breeze, The Capital Burger, and most recently, Chuy's. Darden generates revenue almost exclusively from company-owned restaurants, though a small network of franchised restaurants and consumer-packaged goods sales through the traditional grocery channel contribute modestly. As of the end of its fiscal 2024, the company operated 2,031 restaurants in the us.
Employees: 187,384
Fund manager confidence
Based on 2024 Q4 regulatory filings by fund managers ($100M+ AUM)
200% more funds holding in top 10
Funds holding in top 10: 2 [Q3] → 6 (+4) [Q4]
73% more first-time investments, than exits
New positions opened: 144 | Existing positions closed: 83
12% more capital invested
Capital invested by funds: $18.7B [Q3] → $20.8B (+$2.18B) [Q4]
5% more funds holding
Funds holding: 872 [Q3] → 916 (+44) [Q4]
9.54% less ownership
Funds ownership: 104.63% [Q3] → 95.1% (-9.54%) [Q4]
12% less repeat investments, than reductions
Existing positions increased: 286 | Existing positions reduced: 324
21% less call options, than puts
Call options by funds: $402M | Put options by funds: $509M
Research analyst outlook
15 Wall Street Analysts provided 1 year price targets over the past 3 months
15 analyst ratings
Raymond James Brian Vaccaro 54% 1-year accuracy 7 / 13 met price target | 7%upside $210 | Outperform Maintained | 28 Jan 2025 |
Barclays Jeffrey Bernstein 47% 1-year accuracy 50 / 106 met price target | 17%upside $230 | Overweight Maintained | 7 Jan 2025 |
Oppenheimer Brian Bittner 38% 1-year accuracy 13 / 34 met price target | 11%upside $218 | Outperform Maintained | 7 Jan 2025 |
Morgan Stanley Brian Harbour 83% 1-year accuracy 19 / 23 met price target | 6%upside $209 | Overweight Maintained | 23 Dec 2024 |
B of A Securities Sara Senatore 58% 1-year accuracy 21 / 36 met price target | 7%upside $211 | Buy Maintained | 20 Dec 2024 |
Financial journalist opinion
Based on 4 articles about DRI published over the past 30 days
