Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Barclays from $230.00 to $235.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 17.55% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on DRI. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $199.92 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.73. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. 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 firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,048,000. 93.64% of the stock is 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.