Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) – Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group issued their Q1 2021 EPS estimates for Darden Restaurants in a research report issued on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst A. Barish forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $1.49 for the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Darden Restaurants’ Q2 2021 earnings at $1.17 EPS, Q3 2021 earnings at $2.12 EPS and Q4 2021 earnings at $1.95 EPS.
Several other analysts have also recently commented on DRI. Deutsche Bank decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $123.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Maxim Group set a $126.00 price objective on Darden Restaurants and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Co dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $128.00.
DRI opened at $108.50 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $95.83 and a 1-year high of $128.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.43.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.05. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 32.25% and a net margin of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Evoke Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $193,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 24,462 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,108,000. Bank of Hawaii grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 4,365 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.
In related news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $123,536.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.48%.
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
Darden Restaurants, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. As of May 27, 2018, it owned and operated approximately 1,746 restaurants under the Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, and Eddie V’s brands.