Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Research Coverage Started at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $183.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.88.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE DRI opened at $169.75 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $165.01 and its 200 day moving average is $155.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. The trade was a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719. This represents a 99.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $587,638,000 after purchasing an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $459,216,000 after purchasing an additional 17,497 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in 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.

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.