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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective boosted by TD Securities from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.85. 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 market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Impact Investors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Darden Restaurants

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.