Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $180.13.

Several research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at $1,719. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,706 shares of company stock worth $12,813,038. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 33,066 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $838,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 499.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 11,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,158,000 after buying an additional 7,184 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $161.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $159.11 and its 200-day moving average is $152.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced 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). 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 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

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.