Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $226.24.

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $195.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.75. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.49%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $341,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 424,673 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $78,274,000 after acquiring an additional 14,156 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 45,020 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385 shares in the last quarter. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $1,795,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.