Darden Restaurants’ (DRI) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $164.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential upside of 4.65% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on DRI. Truist Financial increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $184.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.25.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $156.72 on Monday. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $133.36 and a 1-year high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $156.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.51.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total transaction of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,075,040.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Melvin John Martin sold 3,000 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.30, for a total value 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 approximately $2,057,743.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,706 shares of company stock valued at $12,813,038 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 131.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 155 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $31,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.