Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Cut to $175.00 by Analysts at Argus

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price trimmed by Argus from $186.00 to $175.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on DRI. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $174.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $153.09 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $150.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.53.

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

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.50%.

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, 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 through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the sale, 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 own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 327,611 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $54,427,000 after acquiring an additional 47,915 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 846,994 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $141,553,000 after acquiring an additional 34,174 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 127.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,983 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 395.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,279,000 after purchasing an additional 29,989 shares during 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.