Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Securities Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price raised by TD Securities from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Securities’ price target indicates a potential downside of 4.96% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on DRI. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.36.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of DRI opened at $199.92 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.47. The company 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,357,000 after buying an additional 12,434 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $15,175,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.