Truist Financial Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $195.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective hoisted by Truist Financial from $185.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to an underperform rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $172.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

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

About Darden Restaurants

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.