Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $165.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $175.00 to $165.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of DRI opened at $168.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $177.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.14. The firm has a market cap of $19.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total value of $201,294.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719. This represents a 99.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.