Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price raised by research analysts at Barclays from $230.00 to $235.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 18.11% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. TD Securities increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. 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 data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.04.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of DRI stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $198.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 691,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,249,182. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.31. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.47. The company has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently 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.