Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $195.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $184.00 to $195.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.