Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $235.00 at Wedbush

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by research analysts at Wedbush from $220.00 to $235.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price points to a potential upside of 18.29% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. 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, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.84.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $198.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. 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 has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $203.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $191.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.31.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at $8,472,092.64. This trade represents a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DRI. State Street Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $772,635,000 after acquiring an additional 26,601 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $530,121,000 after acquiring an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $300,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,454 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.