Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $215.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price raised by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $190.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential downside of 0.59% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.60.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.5%

DRI stock opened at $216.27 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.75.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.69% and a return on equity of 51.81%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 11,948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.08, for a total transaction of $2,653,411.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,645.76. The trade was a 98.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total transaction of $1,284,431.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This represents a 55.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,463 shares of company stock valued at $4,997,442. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter worth $31,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. 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.