Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $230.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by Barclays from $206.00 to $230.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $183.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.70 and a 200-day moving average of $160.74. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $189.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G 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, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after purchasing an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.