Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Now Covered by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $183.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One 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.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $169.75 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $177.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.59%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $286,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,448. This trade represents a 23.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. Company 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. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after purchasing an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth about $777,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 5,945 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after purchasing an additional 163,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.