Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, KeyCorp Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target raised by KeyCorp from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on DRI. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,048,000. 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.