Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Raised to $195.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by analysts at UBS Group from $188.00 to $195.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.59% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $150.90 and a 200 day moving average of $153.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a PE 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction 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. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after buying an additional 105,433 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.