Robert W. Baird Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $230.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $218.00 to $230.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Darden Restaurants from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $216.27. 1,425,028 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,337,024. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.75. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.98. 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 (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is 63.06%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total value of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,645.76. This represents a 98.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,463 shares of company stock valued at $4,997,442 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $748,215,000 after buying an additional 157,305 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $530,121,000 after buying an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,441,518 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $269,117,000 after acquiring an additional 158,168 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.