Truist Financial Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $195.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by Truist Financial from $185.00 to $195.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James reiterated an outperform rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, TD Cowen restated a hold rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of DRI opened at $172.74 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.18. 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 current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 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, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 65.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, 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 value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,862,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 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.