Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Cut to Hold at TD Cowen

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was downgraded by TD Cowen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $150.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $170.00. TD Cowen’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.58% from the company’s previous close.

DRI has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BTIG Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.95.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $139.43 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.29. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $133.36 and a 1 year high of $176.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.88.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.