Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Upgraded at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $215.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their prior price target of $180.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on DRI. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.52.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $187.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.36. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $189.18. 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 company has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 27.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 28,655 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,336,000 after buying an additional 6,258 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 71,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,860,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.0% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,797 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 11,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,781,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,784 shares in 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.