Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Cut to $159.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective cut by Piper Sandler from $163.00 to $159.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BTIG Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $141.90 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $147.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.77. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after purchasing an additional 105,433 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,572,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,867,000 after acquiring an additional 82,356 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,075,000 after acquiring an additional 6,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after acquiring an additional 26,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.