Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) PT Raised to $176.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $165.00 to $176.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 3.43% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Argus reduced their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.28.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $170.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.82% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $65,735.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total value of $352,725.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,483.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,308,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $349,268,000 after buying an additional 105,433 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,809,155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $297,244,000 after acquiring an additional 169,642 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,591,541 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $240,832,000 after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,418,592 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $233,075,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 13.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $172,811,000 after purchasing an additional 132,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.