Analysts Set Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) PT at $226.24

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $226.24.

DRI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $192.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $206.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 53.54% and a net margin of 8.66%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after buying an additional 3,613,781 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $144,483,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 820.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $153,977,000 after acquiring an additional 629,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $113,301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.