Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $209.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $193.00 to $209.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on DRI. Bank of America upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $186.65 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $188.88. The stock has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.43 and a 200 day moving average of $158.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,562 shares in the company, valued at $2,602,433.26. This trade represents a 11.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,320 shares of company stock worth $1,366,948 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 676 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.