Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $177.00

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to an underperform rating and cut their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $150.90 and its 200-day moving average is $153.19. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. 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 released 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). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value 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 $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.