Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Lowered to $175.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $180.00 to $175.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Stephens initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set an equal weight rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.81.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $148.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.80.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

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 repurchase up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total transaction of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,973,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 8,619 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $159,047,000 after acquiring an additional 65,223 shares during the period. 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.