Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $178.00 Price Target at Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by Stephens from $175.00 to $178.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DRI. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $192.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,048,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.