Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and sixteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $180.13.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. 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 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after purchasing an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.7% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 35,495 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,826,000 after buying an additional 2,849 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $1,118,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 63.4% in the third quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 2,332 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $166.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.16 and a 200-day moving average of $153.64. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

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.