Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by research analysts at Stephens in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $164.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.65% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on DRI. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $156.72 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,038 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $349,268,000 after buying an additional 105,433 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,832,000 after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,004,932 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 26,081 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

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.