Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Now Covered by Analysts at Melius

Melius started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $240.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DRI. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $209.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $213.52 and its 200-day moving average is $200.81. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $138.21 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $24.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,212.10. The trade was a 55.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,645.76. This represents a 98.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after acquiring an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $300,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $269,117,000 after acquiring an additional 158,168 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.