Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $164.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on DRI. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

DRI opened at $187.59 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $188.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after purchasing an additional 8,480 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,995,000 after purchasing an additional 163,693 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.