Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $212.00 at Truist Financial

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by Truist Financial from $200.00 to $212.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.00.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9 %

DRI opened at $187.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,048,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.