Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Increased to $152.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 25th, 2023

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) had its price target boosted by Robert W. Baird from $148.00 to $152.00 in a research report released on Friday, The Fly reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $148.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $168.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $159.85.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $152.58 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $110.96 and a 12 month high of $154.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50-day moving average is $147.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.12.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The restaurant operator reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.10. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 42.51% and a net margin of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $4.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.95, for a total transaction of $283,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,755,069.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.95, for a total transaction of $283,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,755,069.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard L. Renninger sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.99, for a total value of $739,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,310,240.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,229 shares of company stock valued at $1,358,200 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,373,923 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,911,012,000 after buying an additional 362,658 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,757,686 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $727,311,000 after buying an additional 763,728 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,507,294 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $346,500,000 after buying an additional 45,661 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,573,384 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,646,000 after buying an additional 532,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 33.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,572,849 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $209,110,000 after buying an additional 394,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company, which engages in the provision of restaurant services. It operates through the following segments: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Fine Dining, and Other Business. The Olive Garden segment is the largest full-service dining Italian restaurant operator.

Analyst Recommendations for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

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