Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Increased to $200.00 by Analysts at Wedbush

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective raised by Wedbush from $170.00 to $200.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on DRI. Argus reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $159.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to an underperform rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.19.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after buying an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $838,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.