Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Price Target Raised to $235.00 at Wedbush

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) had its price target upped by research analysts at Wedbush from $220.00 to $235.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Wedbush’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.29% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on DRI. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $194.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $206.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.84.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 5.6 %

DRI opened at $198.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $203.47.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 7,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.95, for a total transaction of $1,546,437.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $766,948.30. This represents a 66.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,343,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,853 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by 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.