Raymond James Boosts Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $210.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Raymond James from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Raymond James’ price objective points to a potential upside of 9.05% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on DRI. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE DRI traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, reaching $192.58. 283,789 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,111,609. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $194.70. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $178.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.07. The company has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This trade represents 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 this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares in the company, valued at $843,433.56. The trade was a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,034 shares of company stock worth $8,303,692. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,600 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 22,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,358,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,404 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 42,590 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,445,000 after buying an additional 5,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.4% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.