Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $226.24 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $226.24.

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $194.09 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.25. The company has a market cap of $22.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.The business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 63.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,206,000 after purchasing an additional 31,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 164.1% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,473 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,319,000 after purchasing an additional 5,830 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $2,536,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $2,404,000. Institutional investors 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.