Oppenheimer Raises Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $230.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $218.00 to $230.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.78% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.84.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. The business’s 50-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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

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. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% during 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 period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 13,371 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,401 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.