Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $187.44.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price (up from $182.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $187.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $189.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $171.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.98.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $7,944,000 after buying an additional 8,480 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $459,216,000 after acquiring an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. 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.