Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $220.00 at Guggenheim

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by Guggenheim from $205.00 to $220.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $208.84 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.21. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $210.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by 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.