Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $193.00 to $209.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $186.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $188.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $168.43 and its 200 day moving average is $158.06. The stock has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,366,948. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.