Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $210.00 at Raymond James

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by Raymond James from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $192.72 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $178.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $194.70.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 63.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 22,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,358,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,404 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,087,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 42,590 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,445,000 after buying an additional 5,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is 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.