Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Raised to $200.00 at Wedbush

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by analysts at Wedbush from $170.00 to $200.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.10% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $159.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $176.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $177.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.87.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 8.3 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $172.27 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $133.36 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The stock has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a P/E 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after purchasing an additional 105,433 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,244,000 after purchasing an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.