Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $200.00 Price Target at Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective hoisted by Stephens from $178.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.62.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $217.62 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $204.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.93. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $220.79. The company has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total transaction of $375,431.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 9,006 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $18,906,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 10,138 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,196 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,650,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 22,444 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,663,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. 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.