Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $175.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $187.59 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $188.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $166.25 and a 200-day moving average of $156.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,816 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 824.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,687,000 after purchasing an additional 36,334 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $1,081,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $326,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.