Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $190.00 at TD Securities

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price boosted by TD Securities from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.60. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $203.47. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.