Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $195.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

23 Sep 2024, 09:38 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) had its price objective increased by Truist Financial from $185.00 to $195.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.28.

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Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,901,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,345,000 after purchasing an additional 289,876 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after acquiring an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 204,832 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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