Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $210.00 at UBS Group

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $195.00 to $210.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on DRI. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens increased 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. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $187.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.99. 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. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at $1,719. The trade was a 99.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after acquiring an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after acquiring an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after purchasing an additional 205,450 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.