Stephens Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $165.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Raymond James reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $167.00 target price (down from $175.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen reissued a buy rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $174.20.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $153.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.62. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $133.36 and a 52-week high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 61.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $734,998.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,599 shares of company stock worth $2,197,891. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $17,202,000. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,986,000 after buying an additional 8,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 968,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $159,047,000 after purchasing an additional 65,223 shares in the last quarter. 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.