Truist Financial Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $195.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target hoisted by Truist Financial from $185.00 to $195.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen restated a hold rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $150.90 and its 200 day moving average is $153.19. The stock has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Research analysts predict 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 $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,862,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.