Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Guggenheim Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Guggenheim from $205.00 to $220.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD Securities increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $202.08.

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Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of DRI traded down $2.71 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $205.28. The company had a trading volume of 212,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,221,292. The stock has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50 day moving average price is $194.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $211.00.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,022 shares of company stock worth $13,183,803 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $4,019,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.