Wedbush Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Wedbush from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential upside of 19.93% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.24.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $183.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.99. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $188.82. The stock has a market cap of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.90, for a total transaction of $201,294.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10 shares in the company, valued at $1,719. The trade was a 99.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.