Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $220.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Darden Restaurants traded as high as $206.91 and last traded at $208.54, with a volume of 260326 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.93.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.08.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,698 shares of company stock worth $8,536,729. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 4.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

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.