Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $209.00 to $217.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.47. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 yield of 2.80%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total transaction of $2,390,653.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. The trade was a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,357,000 after acquiring an additional 12,434 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $15,175,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.