Stephens Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $175.00 price objective on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential downside of 6.05% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on DRI. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of DRI opened at $186.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $191.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.38. The firm has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This trade represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 35,950 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.