Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $179.28 Average PT from Analysts

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $179.25.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $166.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $153.39 and a 200 day moving average of $153.35. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,386 shares of company stock worth $11,446,091. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted 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 grew 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $838,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.