Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $170.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on DRI. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. BTIG Research raised Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $173.76.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $153.28 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $150.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.29.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 4,707 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total value of $734,998.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,800.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 7,673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 17,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,848,268.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,599 shares of company stock valued at $2,197,891 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.0% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Union Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.