Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $201.38.

DRI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $198.15 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.33.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP John W. Madonna sold 1,806 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.88, for a total value of $375,431.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,072.96. The trade was a 20.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.