Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $210.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $195.00 to $210.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on DRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $164.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.3 %

DRI stock opened at $187.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $188.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after buying an additional 8,480 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after purchasing an additional 163,693 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.