The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)

Stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 6.88% from the stock’s current price.

DRI has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded Darden Restaurants from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.88.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE DRI opened at $171.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $164.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.41. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $177.67.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $286,552.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,448. This represents a 23.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. 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.