Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $165.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $165.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential downside of 2.52% from the company’s previous close.

DRI has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI traded down $3.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $169.26. 1,004,232 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,227,207. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.39. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 105,433 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $297,244,000 after buying an additional 169,642 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,832,000 after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.1% during the second 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.

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.