Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $192.52.

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $196.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $23.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $196.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $179.90 and a 200-day moving average of $164.85.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,303,692 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.9% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 129,424 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $19,828,000 after acquiring an additional 21,465 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 22,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,358,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 22,859 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 8,595 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 92.4% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,738 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,500,000 after purchasing an additional 14,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.