Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $195.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $188.00 to $195.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.29.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI traded down $1.42 on Friday, hitting $170.85. The company had a trading volume of 379,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,160. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $149.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $349,268,000 after purchasing an additional 105,433 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in 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 valued at $297,244,000 after purchasing an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,832,000 after buying an additional 18,899 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after buying an additional 132,643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.