Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Receives Buy Rating from TD Cowen

TD Cowen reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $190.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $181.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $156.61 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $18.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $164.79 and a 200 day moving average of $159.12. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The restaurant operator reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.52, for a total transaction of $1,270,034.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total transaction of $1,115,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,723 shares of company stock worth $2,578,122 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 23,411 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.7% in the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,125 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 100.9% in the third quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,280 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.