Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $190.52 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $192.52.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1,832.9% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 53,077 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,909,000 after purchasing an additional 50,331 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $215,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,335 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,303,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 204.0% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,178,000 after buying an additional 4,236 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $192.72 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.43. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $194.70. The company has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current 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 paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

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.