Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Oppenheimer Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $200.00 to $218.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price points to a potential upside of 18.65% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $193.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.12.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $183.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $173.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Darden Restaurants has a twelve month low of $135.87 and a twelve month high of $189.18.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total transaction of $1,710,875.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,433.56. This represents a 66.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1,690.9% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 395.0% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.