Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Receives $179.28 Average PT from Analysts

28 Sep 2024, 09:13 by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat Gem

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $179.25.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRI. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $166.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $153.39 and a 200 day moving average of $153.35. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 69,386 shares of company stock worth $11,446,091. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 30,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,619 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,901,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 206.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,082 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,204,000 after acquiring an additional 33,066 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $838,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Darden Restaurants

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