Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $201.38 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $201.38.

DRI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 3.6%

DRI stock opened at $205.64 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $197.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock valued at $5,121,492 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $642,967,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,987,000 after acquiring an additional 926,901 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $84,801,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,919,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.