KeyCorp Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $220.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) had its target price boosted by KeyCorp from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on DRI. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Darden Restaurants from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.08.

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Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded up $8.98 on Friday, hitting $208.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 991,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,689. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $210.31. The stock's 50-day moving average is $192.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,684,637.36. This represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. State Street Corp increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $300,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares during the period. 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.