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

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $179.28.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DRI. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $170.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.19. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $133.36 and a one year high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap 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.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.4% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,640 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.3% in the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,918 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in 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.