Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Receives "Equal Weight" Rating from Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reissued by analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $175.00 price target on the restaurant operator's stock. Stephens' target price would suggest a potential downside of 16.20% from the stock's current price.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.08.

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Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $8.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $208.84. 2,129,622 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,246,964. The business has a 50-day moving average of $192.60 and a 200 day moving average of $177.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $210.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total transaction of $2,888,762.49. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,472,092.64. The trade was a 25.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,707,456 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $772,635,000 after buying an additional 26,601 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $700,210,000 after acquiring an additional 170,336 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth approximately $642,967,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,845,302 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $530,121,000 after purchasing an additional 39,189 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,609,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $300,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,454 shares in the last quarter. 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.