Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $201.36.

Several brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $199.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.85. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,357,000 after acquiring an additional 12,434 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,157,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $15,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.