Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $159.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price objective would suggest a potential downside of 0.09% from the company’s previous close.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $163.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Argus dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.18.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $159.14 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.35. 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 company has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $133.36 and a 12-month high of $176.84.

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

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.