Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $200.00 Price Target at KeyCorp

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by KeyCorp from $194.00 to $200.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $187.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.99. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $188.88. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719. The trade was a 99.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.