Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $200.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) had its target price upped by KeyCorp from $194.00 to $200.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $4.15 during trading hours 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $188.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company's 50-day moving average is $166.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.99.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake 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 stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $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 period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

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.