TD Cowen Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

TD Cowen reiterated their buy rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a $190.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $156.52 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $164.68 and its 200-day moving average is $159.10.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,168,604 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $167,359,000 after buying an additional 418,860 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,601,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 27.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,602,543 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $229,516,000 after acquiring an additional 340,467 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 129.6% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 553,721 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $90,976,000 after purchasing an additional 312,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $45,321,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.