Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $220.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective increased by Guggenheim from $205.00 to $220.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $207.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $210.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $193.62 and a 200-day moving average of $177.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This 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 sold 66,216 shares of company stock valued at $12,808,372. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 93.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 5,756 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,944,000 after purchasing an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 11.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $5,514,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.