Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Increased to $195.00 by Analysts at BTIG Research

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective upped by BTIG Research from $175.00 to $195.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DRI. TD Cowen reiterated a hold rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $172.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $151.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.18. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, 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.

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

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.