Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $193.00 to $209.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.07% from the company’s current price.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.44.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $5.96 on Monday, hitting $181.63. The stock had a trading volume of 755,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,500. The company has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $188.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.34.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,057,743.30. This trade represents a 19.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,320 shares of company stock worth $1,366,948. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,293 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $24,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,816 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 824.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,741 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,687,000 after acquiring an additional 36,334 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $1,081,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $326,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.