Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Lifted to “Outperform” at Evercore ISI

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $205.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock, up from their prior price target of $165.00. Evercore ISI’s price target indicates a potential upside of 19.00% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $159.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.87.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $172.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $133.36 and a twelve month high of $176.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $31,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.