Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) Buy Rating Reiterated at TD Cowen

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $192.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $178.85.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $156.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.12. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The company has a market capitalization of $18.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.24% and a return on equity of 49.94%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 6,831 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.26, for a total value of $1,115,229.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,124,959.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William S. Simon sold 1,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.21, for a total value of $192,857.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,281 shares in the company, valued at $993,717.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,274 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 216 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,705 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.