Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $159.00 Price Target at Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price lowered by analysts at Stephens from $165.00 to $159.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 0.31% from the company’s current price.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.18.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:DRI opened at $158.51 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 quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.78.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $72,901,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $58,601,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 71.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 696,176 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $105,345,000 after buying an additional 289,876 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,317,000 after buying an additional 205,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 81.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 457,114 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $69,125,000 after buying an additional 204,832 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.