Citigroup Increases Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $229.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $223.00 to $229.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on DRI. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.85.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,019,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.