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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target lifted by Stephens from $164.00 to $175.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $187.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $188.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.99. The company has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This trade represents a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $587,638,000 after acquiring an additional 123,900 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $386,133,000 after acquiring an additional 44,464 shares during the period. 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.