Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $190.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $175.00 to $190.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.85. The company has a market capitalization 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 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year 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.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,357,000 after buying an additional 12,434 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,175,000. 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.