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

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $179.28.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 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 $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the second 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 position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $170.17 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.19. 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 results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

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.