Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $188.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $188.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.19. The company has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. 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. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.