Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $209.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $193.00 to $209.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $184.79 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $188.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $166.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.34.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $334,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,562 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,602,433.26. This trade represents a 11.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,366,948. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,832,000 after purchasing an additional 5,816 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 824.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,687,000 after buying an additional 36,334 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $1,081,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $326,000. 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.