Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Raised to $164.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target lifted by Stephens from $159.00 to $164.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price target points to a potential downside of 3.63% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Argus cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $133.36 and a one 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $31,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.