Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $229.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Citigroup from $223.00 to $229.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Citigroup’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.01% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on DRI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.96.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE:DRI traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $199.11. 786,763 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,249,542. The company has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $203.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.37, for a total value of $2,390,653.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares in the company, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 173,318 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $32,357,000 after purchasing an additional 12,434 shares during the period. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth $1,225,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $2,157,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth about $15,175,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.