Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Rating Reiterated by Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $164.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $164.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $158.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.54. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,204,000 after acquiring an additional 33,066 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $838,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 499.8% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 11,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,158,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.