Analysts Set Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) PT at $180.13

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $180.13.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE DRI opened at $168.69 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $176.84. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $162.98 and a 200-day moving average of $153.56. The firm has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.59%.

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.