Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $220.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by KeyCorp from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $192.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.85. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.