Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $194.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $180.00 to $194.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 5.76% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.24.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 14.7 %

NYSE DRI opened at $183.44 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $188.82. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $166.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total value of $542,587.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. The trade was a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after buying an additional 163,693 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.