Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $226.24 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $226.24.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.3% during the first quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 34,280 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,723,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 44.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,212,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $629,736,000 after purchasing an additional 991,230 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,823,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 47.0% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 10,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 541.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 80,807 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $15,839,000 after purchasing an additional 68,215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $197.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $197.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 53.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.49%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.