Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Rating Reiterated by Wedbush

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $170.00 price target on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.48% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $187.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, July 19th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Darden Restaurants from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE DRI opened at $156.71 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants has a 52 week low of $133.36 and a 52 week high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.04. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 49.82%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,735.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Melvin John Martin sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.09, for a total transaction of $352,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,483.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Sarah H. King sold 15,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.06, for a total transaction of $2,344,283.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 447 shares in the company, valued at $65,735.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,216,000. Farmers National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 8.3% in the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,515 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,856,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 71,780 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,862,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 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.