Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $170.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stephens cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $174.20.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $153.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.50%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Union Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.