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

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at KeyCorp from $200.00 to $220.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.73% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.84.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of DRI stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $198.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 326,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,739. Darden Restaurants has a 52-week low of $135.87 and a 52-week high of $203.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.31. The stock has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG 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 earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.