Brokerages Set Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Target Price at $179.28

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $179.25.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $166.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.35. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,386 shares of company stock worth $11,446,091. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $252,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,601,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,272 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Finally, Team Hewins LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.