Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $159.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE DRI opened at $170.17 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,345,000 after acquiring an additional 289,876 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after acquiring an additional 205,450 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $69,125,000 after acquiring an additional 204,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.