Darden Restaurants (DRI) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.41.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 19th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 2nd. UBS upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Darden Restaurants to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 2nd.

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Shares of Darden Restaurants traded down $0.69, reaching $85.25, during trading hours on Friday, according to MarketBeat. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 73,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,250. The company has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.22. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $87.01 and a 1-year high of $87.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 22nd. The restaurant operator reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 28.12% and a net margin of 6.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 EPS. equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 9th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.69%.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisor Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 47.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Partners LLC now owns 8,291 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,219,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 64,256 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,170,000 after purchasing an additional 9,198 shares during the period. Trust Department MB Financial Bank N A bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $720,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $588,000. 90.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. As of June 27, 2017, it owned and operated approximately 1,700 restaurants under the Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, and Eddie V's brands.