Stephens Increases Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target to $178.00

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Stephens from $175.00 to $178.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Stephens' target price suggests a potential downside of 14.80% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on DRI. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $183.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.08.

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Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI traded up $8.98 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $208.91. The stock had a trading volume of 991,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,227,342. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $192.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.85. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $210.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 12,759 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,684,637.36. This trade represents a 47.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,698 shares of company stock valued at $8,536,729 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth about $682,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $409,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 111.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $241,121,000 after buying an additional 772,907 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580,322 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $587,638,000 after buying an additional 123,900 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.