JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $176.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $165.00 to $176.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

DRI opened at $172.74 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.18. The firm has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. 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 posted 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 company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, 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.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $838,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.