Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $180.00 to $194.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price suggests a potential upside of 3.42% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.60.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $187.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.25. Darden Restaurants has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $188.88.

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

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total value of $981,488.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,601.36. The trade was a 59.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 21.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,944,000 after purchasing an additional 8,480 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter valued at $777,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,806,113 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $459,216,000 after buying an additional 17,497 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,454,356,000 after buying an additional 8,851,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,995,000 after buying an additional 163,693 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.