Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Given New $190.00 Price Target at TD Securities

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at TD Securities from $180.00 to $190.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. TD Securities’ price target suggests a potential downside of 4.36% from the company’s previous close.

DRI has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.84.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.31. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. The trade was a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total value of $1,313,399.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $642,967,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 772,907 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $75,137,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth $48,919,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth $40,048,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.