Barclays Increases Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $255.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $235.00 to $255.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $217.45 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $642,967,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $192,987,000 after acquiring an additional 926,901 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $84,801,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $75,137,000. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $48,919,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.