Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $175.00

by · The Markets Daily

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Free Report) had its price target upped by BMO Capital Markets from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $179.28.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on DRI

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

DRI stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $150.90 and its 200 day moving average is $153.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, 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 value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

(Get Free Report)

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.

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