Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price lifted by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $175.00 to $190.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price indicates a potential downside of 4.36% from the stock’s current price.

DRI has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.44.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $135.87 and a 1-year high of $203.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.31. The firm has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, 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 current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $32,357,000 after acquiring an additional 12,434 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,175,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.