Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $173.81.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $167.00 price target (down previously from $175.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $151.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.78.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,717.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 18,095 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,973,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $159,047,000 after acquiring an additional 65,223 shares during the period. 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.