Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.81.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $154.29 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $150.70 and a 200-day moving average of $159.73. The company has a market capitalization of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,848,268.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.1% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 327,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $54,427,000 after acquiring an additional 47,915 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 846,994 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $141,553,000 after acquiring an additional 34,174 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 127.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 7,983 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,279,000 after acquiring an additional 29,989 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.