Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given "Equal Weight" Rating at Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Stephens in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $164.00 target price on the restaurant operator's stock. Stephens' target price points to a potential downside of 10.60% from the company's previous close.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $159.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.46.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 14.7 %

NYSE:DRI traded up $23.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $183.44. The company had a trading volume of 4,765,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,947. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.99. Darden Restaurants has a 1 year low of $135.87 and a 1 year high of $188.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total transaction of $489,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,057,743.30. This represents a 19.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $659,601.36. This trade represents a 59.81 % 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 197 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 395.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.