Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $175.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by BMO Capital Markets from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $187.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $188.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $166.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,602,433.26. This represents a 11.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,320 shares of company stock worth $1,366,948 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after purchasing an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,352,608 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $386,133,000 after purchasing an additional 44,464 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.