Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by research analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued on Wednesday, TipRanks reports. They presently have a $125.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.51% from the company’s previous close.
A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on DRI. MKM Partners started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. SunTrust Banks decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Maxim Group set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Darden Restaurants from $144.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $128.34.
NYSE:DRI opened at $118.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.34. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $95.83 and a fifty-two week high of $128.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $113.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.86.
In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.05, for a total transaction of $190,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $808,706.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Nana Mensah sold 1,103 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $123,536.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 14.1% in the third quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 24,462 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,892,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,108,000. Bank of Hawaii grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 4,365 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $236,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 189,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $22,426,000 after acquiring an additional 9,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
Darden Restaurants, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. As of May 27, 2018, it owned and operated approximately 1,746 restaurants under the Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, and Eddie V's brands.
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