Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $177.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $159.00 to $177.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to an underperform rating and decreased their price target for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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.