Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $210.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 12.55% from the stock’s current price.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $192.08 and a 200-day moving average of $176.73. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position 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 buying an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position 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 buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. 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.