Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $230.00 at Oppenheimer

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its target price increased by research analysts at Oppenheimer from $218.00 to $230.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.78% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on DRI. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $183.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.84.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 5.6 %

NYSE DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.31. Darden Restaurants has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total value of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This trade represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 15,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.03, for a total value of $2,888,762.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,472,092.64. This represents a 25.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,926 shares of company stock worth $9,850,129 over the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 175 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 103.2% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 254 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.