Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $175.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by BMO Capital Markets from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $166.25 and its 200-day moving average is $156.99. The company has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. 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 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $188.88.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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 return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. &PARTNERS raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 123.8% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 3,727 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,062 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 24,913 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 9.8% during the second quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 10,743 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 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.