Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Darden Restaurants, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 27 analysts, with an average price target of $225.19.
• The company reported $2.98 earnings per share for its last quarter, beating estimates, and has announced a $1 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock value.
• Darden recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.50 per share, representing an annualized payout of $6.00 and a yield of 2.9%.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $225.1923.

Several equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,109,816.95. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,727 shares of company stock valued at $10,022,232. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46,484.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 928,895 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $192,987,000 after purchasing an additional 926,901 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 820.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $153,977,000 after purchasing an additional 629,669 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $417,935,000 after purchasing an additional 596,863 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 192.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 880,765 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $191,980,000 after purchasing an additional 579,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $125,521,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $207.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $140.50 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a market cap of $24.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.90.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. Darden Restaurants's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 67.57%.

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.

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