Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Upgraded at Melius Research

Melius Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on DRI. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 20th. Wedbush increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.19.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE DRI opened at $208.24 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.05. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $138.21 and a one year high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

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

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 4,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.78, for a total value of $1,059,598.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,029,835.56. This trade represents a 50.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 46,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,714 shares of company stock valued at $9,609,494. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.