Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $230.00 to $235.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator's stock.
A number of other equities analysts have also commented on DRI. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.08.
Get Our Latest Research Report on DRI
Darden Restaurants Stock Performance
Shares of DRI stock traded up $8.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $208.84. 2,129,541 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,246,964. The firm's 50-day moving average is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average is $176.85. The company has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $210.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 64.15%.
Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants
In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729 in the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $772,635,000 after purchasing an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $700,210,000 after buying an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after acquiring an additional 39,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Darden Restaurants, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Darden Restaurants wasn't on the list.
While Darden Restaurants currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
If a company's CEO, COO, and CFO were all selling shares of their stock, would you want to know? MarketBeat just compiled its list of the twelve stocks that corporate insiders are abandoning. Complete the form below to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
