Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $187.44 Average Target Price from Analysts

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $189.12.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake 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 worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $61,959,000 after purchasing an additional 375,292 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $184.60 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $21.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.15%.

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.