Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $215.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 7.54% from the company’s current price.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $192.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.73. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in 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.