Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $164.00 at Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by Stephens from $159.00 to $164.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a hold rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Argus reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $172.74 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.18.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after buying an additional 105,433 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after acquiring an additional 18,899 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during 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.