Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Earns Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer restated their outperform rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has a $200.00 target price on the restaurant operator's stock, up from their previous target price of $182.00.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.3 %

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $4.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $187.59. The stock had a trading volume of 4,138,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,719. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $188.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $166.25 and a 200 day moving average of $156.99.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $286,552.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,448. This trade represents a 23.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $61,959,000 after buying an additional 375,292 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $53,317,000 after buying an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.