Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $175.00 to $190.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target suggests a potential downside of 4.96% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.08 and a 200 day moving average of $176.73. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $300,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.