Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Increased to $200.00 by Analysts at Wedbush

by · The Markets Daily

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) had its price target raised by research analysts at Wedbush from $170.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.53% from the stock’s previous close.

DRI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.28.

Read Our Latest Report on Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $170.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total value of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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