Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $218.00 at Oppenheimer

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by Oppenheimer from $200.00 to $218.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on DRI. Citigroup cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $184.60 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $189.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29, 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % 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 link. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 85,390 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $15,991,000 after acquiring an additional 3,521 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,994 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,816 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 824.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,687,000 after purchasing an additional 36,334 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.