Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Raised to $195.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $184.00 to $195.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to an underperform rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $172.74 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $151.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $349,268,000 after purchasing an additional 105,433 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,832,000 after buying an additional 18,899 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,075,000 after buying an additional 6,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after buying an additional 132,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.