TD Securities Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $190.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by equities researchers at TD Securities from $180.00 to $190.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Securities’ price target points to a potential downside of 4.96% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.47. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.73.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,019,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is 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.