Bank of America Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $238.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by research analysts at Bank of America from $230.00 to $238.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $192.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.73. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.