Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $178.85.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,723 shares of company stock valued at $2,578,122. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of DRI opened at $156.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.25. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $164.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

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.