Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Raised to $195.00 at UBS Group

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Darden Restaurants from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

DRI stock opened at $172.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 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 3.24%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $72,901,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $105,345,000 after purchasing an additional 289,876 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after buying an additional 205,450 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.2% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,125,000 after purchasing an additional 204,832 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.