Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $200.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.04% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DRI. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $223.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.73.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,048,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.