Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Cut to “Hold” at TD Cowen

TD Cowen downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $150.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $170.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America lifted 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 Friday, June 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Darden Restaurants from a hold rating to an underperform rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $142.27 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.62. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $133.36 and a fifty-two week high of $176.84. The firm has a market cap of $16.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.73%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after acquiring an additional 105,433 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after purchasing an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,572,642 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,867,000 after purchasing an additional 82,356 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.7% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 26,081 shares during the last quarter. 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.