Stephens Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $178.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by Stephens from $175.00 to $178.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ price objective points to a potential downside of 10.96% from the stock’s previous close.

DRI has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $192.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.73. 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.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research 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, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,357,000 after acquiring an additional 12,434 shares during the period. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $15,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.