Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Rating Lowered by Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $180.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous target price of $190.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Argus reduced 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 note on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $172.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.18.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 completion of 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. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Cibc World Markets Corp grew 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 buying an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $838,000. 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.